Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
More Safety — But Not More Cops — Needed at Fresno High, Say Teachers and Parents
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 2 years ago on
January 26, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A recent violent stabbing on a sidewalk next to Fresno High School has reignited concerns among teachers, students, and their parents about safety on the campus. A handful of them brought those concerns to the School Board at Wednesday’s meeting, saying that students and teachers don’t feel safe, and that the district needs to do something about it.

But the answer is not more police, said Jose Solorio, who repeated the catchphrase “counselors, not cops,” which surfaced a few years ago when the board was deliberating whether to renew contracts with the Fresno Police Department and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office to employ officers and deputies as school resource officers.

After a series of district-led surveys showed strong support among staff, parents, and students for police on campus, trustees voted for the contracts.

Focus on Campus Assistants

The Fresno High speakers on Wednesday urged the district to add campus assistants, who provide some security, and to better train the campus assistants who are already on the campus.

The day after the stabbing incident, a gate that is one of the entry points to the central Fresno high school — the city’s oldest — was manned by a campus assistant, but the following day no one was there and the gate was wide open, history teacher Jose Sandoval said.

Arts teacher Amy Kohl said students are regularly exposed to gang fights on Weldon Avenue, which is not as heavily fenced as other parts of the campus.

English teacher Anoush Ekparian told the board that last week after the school experienced two lockdowns, students who had substitute teachers reported that the subs apparently were unfamiliar with safety procedures.

The district also needs to reconsider the budgeting formula for campus safety assistants, given that Fresno High has a higher population of students deemed more vulnerable and “marginal,” she said.

The Fresno High School website lists the names of six campus safety assistants and a blank space for a seventh position.

“I know you care about students,” Ekparian said. “The timelines for safety measures need to be expedited.”

Safety Team to Assess

Trustee Andy Levine, who represents the Fresno High region, said after the meeting that the district’s safety team was scheduled to go to the school Thursday. Chief of Staff Ambra O’Connor said the team will do a “full assessment” at the school, including reviewing entrances and campus assistants.

Levine said he didn’t see any mixed message from the Fresno High speakers who said they want more security and safety but fewer cops.

“So campus assistants are different from SROs, they’re not law enforcement,” he said. “Certainly they are there for a level of safety, but they’re there to sort of be a positive presence for students and keep an eye on the campus, but also the gates around campus. And so what I hear very clearly from students and teachers and parents is that they want to make sure that we have adequate training for those campus assistants.”

Levine acknowledged that Fresno High needs more campus assistants and mental health supports, given the school’s higher proportion of students with special needs, including foster and homeless kids.

“I heard very clearly from students like needing clarity on who to go to, but also that the current staff in that area is overwhelmed themselves,” he said. “And so making sure we’re doing whatever we need to do to make sure that they’ve got the capacity, but also that students have a safe place to go and talk so that everybody feels safe on campus.”

Preventing Violence

Trustee Susan Wittrup, who represents the Bullard High region, told GV Wire on Thursday that she shared with deputy superintendent Misty Her several resources from the National Association of School Psychologists on preventing school violence.

“Some of these practices are already in place at FUSD schools,” Wittrup, a former school psychologist, said in a text message. “However, several important components are missing or are simply not being consistently implemented. Training and supervision are key.

“Investment in safety has to be the priority on all levels, including school site staff, students, parents, the board, and the community at large. How faithfully we implement and follow these basic practices at every school can make the difference between life and death.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

DON'T MISS

A Former Aide Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Kidnapped Her in a Plot to Kill Kid Cudi

DON'T MISS

RIP Local Broadcast Legend Marv Allen, 80, Longtime Voice of KVPR

DON'T MISS

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

DON'T MISS

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

DON'T MISS

Republican Tuberville Announces Bid for Alabama Governor

DON'T MISS

PG&E Sees Surge in AI Data Center Interest With Fresno Area Emerging as New Hotspot

DON'T MISS

SF-Based Salesforce Is Buying Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Safety Officer Alleges Battery by District Exec. What Does PD Say?

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Arrest 45 in Parole, Probation Sweep

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Moves to Cut All Remaining Federal Contracts With Harvard

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Bar International Students at Harvard

UP NEXT

California TK-12 Enrollment Ticks Down, While Number of Homeless and Poor Students Rises

UP NEXT

Harvard Sues Trump Administration for Blocking Enrollment of Foreign Students

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Is Fixing Accessibility to HR Building After Months of Complaints

UP NEXT

Trump Admin Bars Harvard From Enrolling Foreign Students

UP NEXT

Clovis North Seniors Barred from Walking at Graduation After Caught with Alcohol

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Dismantling Education Department

UP NEXT

Split US Supreme Court Blocks Taxpayer-Funded Religious Charter School

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

5 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

7 hours ago

Republican Tuberville Announces Bid for Alabama Governor

7 hours ago

PG&E Sees Surge in AI Data Center Interest With Fresno Area Emerging as New Hotspot

7 hours ago

SF-Based Salesforce Is Buying Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

8 hours ago

Fresno Unified Safety Officer Alleges Battery by District Exec. What Does PD Say?

8 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Arrest 45 in Parole, Probation Sweep

9 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Scheduling of New Student Visa Appointments

9 hours ago

Trump Pardons Tax Cheat After Mother Attends $1 Million Dinner

9 hours ago

Eight More Drowning Deaths Added to Kern River Warning Signs

10 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol...

4 hours ago

Charles Rangel Obituary
4 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

Sean "Diddy" Combs stands as he is arraigned on a superseding indictment ahead of his May trial on sex trafficking charges, in New York, U.S., March 14, 2025, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg?/File Photo)
5 hours ago

A Former Aide Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Kidnapped Her in a Plot to Kill Kid Cudi

5 hours ago

RIP Local Broadcast Legend Marv Allen, 80, Longtime Voice of KVPR

Todd Chrisley (2nd L) speaks next to his wife Julie (L) and their kids Chase and Savannah at a panel for the USA television series "Chrisley Knows Best" during the Television Critics Association Cable Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California July 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
5 hours ago

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

7 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo
7 hours ago

Republican Tuberville Announces Bid for Alabama Governor

Residents walk by power grid towers at Bair Island State Marine Park in Redwood City, California, United States, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
7 hours ago

PG&E Sees Surge in AI Data Center Interest With Fresno Area Emerging as New Hotspot

Salesforce Tower in New York
8 hours ago

SF-Based Salesforce Is Buying Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend