[BHS Etree] ADMIN - Principal Scuderi Shares Some Additional Thoughts Regarding Weapons on Campus

[BHS etree]

Do not reply to this email, contact Richard Ng,
Richard_ng at berkeley.k12.ca.us 

 

Dear BHS Families:

 

In light of yesterday's events involving weapons on campus the
administrative team is committed to deepening our response as a school

site and working with District officials to craft a comprehensive
intervention to the unacceptable series of events we have experienced here

on campus this year. I am deeply appreciative of the parents and community
members who immediately contacted us with offers to help and to support

our efforts in a variety of ways, as we continue to move forward and
collaborate on a community-wide scale to address and eliminate these

issues on our campus. 

 

I met with the Superintendent and other District Staff last night to debrief
Tuesday and to make plans for both short and long-term measures to

address the incidents. A version of these objectives was sent out by the
District earlier, yet I felt compelled to share these plans via our e-tree
as well. 

 

We are increasing the number of safety officers this week and will maintain
that level of supervision through spring break. These additional

safety officers will compliment the current safety staff who are assigned to
specific areas throughout the campus and provide increased supervision

in areas more difficult to supervise like bathrooms, stairwells, etc. 

 

In addition, the District is adding administrative staff on a temporary
basis to assist with the implementation of the steps we are taking to

reduce and eliminate the presence of weapons on campus. 

 

An additional administrator will be on campus this week to provide increased
supervision and free up current administrators to do direct

outreach to students in social studies classrooms between tomorrow and the
beginning of the spring break. These class meetings will allow

administrators to clearly explain the rules and consequences of having a
weapon on campus and to explain and reiterate the dangers of weapons in

general; moreover, they will explain directly to students how they can
confidentially report information about weapons on campus. It is

important, in my view, that all students be given an explicit and direct
reminder that bringing a weapon to school, or posessing a weapon at any

time in school, regardless of intent, will result in an arrest and a
mandatory expulsion per state education code. 

 

Please remind your students that if they hear of or see a weapon on campus
or have information that a student may be in possession of a weapon

of any kind, or even receive word that someone intends to bring a weapon to
school, to contact a teacher, an administrator, a

coach, or any other staff member immediately. Our clear preference is that
students report directly to staff members and we will keep their reports

confidential. That said, if students still are absolutely not comfortable
reporting to us directly, they can call the PAX national violence

prevention hotline at 1-866-SPEAK UP. A text messaging option is also in the
works and should be operational within the next few weeks. Wallet

cards with this number and key points about reporting incidents should
arrive within the next few weeks and will be distributed to all students.

In the interim; please share the number with students.

 

BHS staff will facilitate student focus groups in the coming days to solicit
student perspectives on these problems and their suggestions for

how this behavior might best be deterred or prevented.

 

The school board has called a meeting for Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.
to discuss strategies and interventions to address the presence of weapons

on campus. BHS staff will actively partcipate in and support that
discussion.

 

Our School Resource Officer from BPD provides additional support on campus
and on our perimeter and is currently coordinating additional patrol

support with BPD beat officers. 

 

Berkeley P.D. officials will meet with BHS and BUSD staff to discuss
continuing student education around safety and consequences as well as to

articulate our shared role in working with parents and students to eliminate
these incidents and to sustain a peaceful and productive campus

for all students.

 

An all BHS staff meeting will be held tomorrow morning to review emergency
contact information and emergency response procedures including campus

closure and lockdown procedures.

 

Berkeley High School and District staff have scheduled a parent forum on
Monday, March 28, 2011 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Florence Schwimley

Little Theater on the BHS campus. The goal will be to outline next steps and
measures that will be taken to prevent future incidents. We invite you

to join us.

 

Among the many unfortunate dimensions that accompany things like this is
that they overshadow the numerous great things that are consistently

happening at Berkeley High School. Many of our seniors are getting responses
to college applications during this time of year and our kids

are maintaining great rates of acceptance from some of the best public and
private colleges and universities in the country. 

 

As I walk through classrooms and observe our staff and students at work I am
reminded, even yesterday amidst the stress and worry that hit all of

us, and today in the aftermath, of the talented, dynamic, and diverse nature
of our school community. Yesterday, despite a troubling morning,

and amidst a power outage, my team and I walked the halls and overwhelmingly
saw teachers teaching and students engaged. Our staff and

our students were simply phenomenal.  The horrible decisions of a few
individuals should be dealt with accordingly, yet not be allowed to

completely overshadow the fact that this high school is a unique and
wonderful place to work and learn and that the overwhelming majority of

folks who show up here everyday do so in a respectful and community-minded
fashion.

 

My mention of our strengths should in no way be seen as an attempt to
obscure the fact that this latest incident signals a persistent and

dangerous problem that warrants sustained and thoughtful intervention. That
said, I believe that it is critical to not let fear be the exclusive

driver of our response. Our emotions and fears are certainly valid yet the
creative, collaborative, intellectual, and innovative elements in our

school and community need to be utilized on this problem as well, and I
genuinely believe that we are more than capable of finding sustainable

solutions together. 

 

Respectfully,

 

Pasquale Scuderi

Principal

Berkeley High School

 

______________

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