With students set to return
to classes in the Culver City
Unified School District Monday,
Aug. 26, another school
shooting could revive memories
of the Newtown, Conn.
massacre following yet another
school shooting, this time in
Georgia.
Michael Brandon Hill, 20,
opened fire on students at Ronald
McNair Discovery Academy
near downtown Atlanta
on Aug. 20. He surrendered to
police hours after barricading
himself in the school’s main
office, according to DeKalb
County police.
No one was injured and
Hill faces charges including
aggravated assault on a police
officer, terroristic threats and
possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon. He was armed
with several weapons, including
an AK-47.
“Another tragic, senseless
act,” responded CCUSD Superintendent
David LaRose when
asked about the latest shooting
hours after it occurred.
Following the Dec. 14 Newtown
murders, when 20-year
old gunman Adam Lanza killed
20 elementary school students
and six adults at Sandy Hook
Elementary School, Culver City
and school districts around the
nation began to reevaluate and
upgrade their school safety
programs.
“We believe that safety is paramount
and is a daily endeavor.
Be it capital projects, staff training,
or partnering with city
agencies the topic of student
and staff safety is always an
area of focus,” La Rose said.
“We have continued purposeful
and strategic in our approach to
school, student and staff safety.”
Stephanie Mihalas, a
licensed child psychologist and
nationally certified school psychologist
who does research
on school violence and aggression,
said there can be built-in
unease for some children on the
first few days of school due to a
number of factors, and hearing
about another school shooting
can escalate their discomfort.
“A lot of children already
have increased anxiety because
they might be changing grade
levels, they might wonder if
their friends are coming back
to school or if they will be in
the same classes or if they
have a new teacher,” Mihalas
explained. “So their anxiety
level can peak if they hear about
another shooting.”
Culver City Unified School
District Board of Education
member Laura Chardiet, whose
two children attend the middle
school and the high school,
said the first thing she thinks
of when she hears about these
types of school tragedies are
her son and daughter. As a
mother, she says it is not always
easy to bifurcate her role as
a school policy maker and a
parent.
“It’s impossible for me to
make that separation,” said
Chardiet. “As a parent, you feel
that greater sense of urgency
for more safety.”
Some of the district’s most
recent efforts to enhance
school safety include the installation
of additional cameras at
campus entry points of the five
elementary schools, the installation
of new, more advanced
alarm system with a new monitoring
partner and a comprehensive
plan to provide security
coverage at the elementary
school sites has been developed
and will be implemented
after the construction and traffic
implications at Farragut
Elementary School, Culver City
Middle School and Culver City
High School are completed.
In addition, “active shooter
drill” training, in coordination
with Culver City Police Department,
took place Aug. 6-9 at the
high school. La Rose said district
administrators participated
in the training.
And earlier this year, a district
team of school site and district
administration and security
team members attended the
Fourth Annual School Safety
Conference.
“These are a few indicators
of our commitment to campus
and student and staff safety.
Training, practice, collaboration
with the city and communication
planning will be an
ongoing goal,” the superintendent
said.
Mihalas, who is also a clinical
instructor at The David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA
Department of Psychiatry and
Biobehavioral Sciences, said
parents can sometimes unwittingly
contribute to a child’s
anxiety by talking about a
shooting even though the child
is unaware of the event.
“The question parents
should ask themselves is ‘am
I doing this to ease my child’s
fear or am I doing this to ease
my own fears?’” she said.
Mihalas also indictaed that it
was natural to talk to children
in the aftermath of Newtown
due to the level of national
media coverage, which made it
nearly impossible for students
of all ages not to hear about the
tragedy.
But the Georgia shooting
has received less attention and
she does not think parents
should discuss it unless the
child brings it to their attention.
Regarding educators, it
should only be discussed if a
teacher observes certain behaviors
or a student mentions the
shooting. “In that case, the student’s
concerns should be validated
and discussed,” Mihalas
said.
Chardiet said the board
receives security updates from
Ted Yant, the head of the district’s
school resource officers.
