March Update: Is Our School Safe? Safety Forum Follow-Up

Next PTSA/OneRio Meeting Wed. 4/11 @ 7pm in Rio Library

San Juan Unified School District Safe Schools program leaders. Officer Kevin Givens, Team Leader, second from right, was in attendance to answer questions and concerns at PTSA/OneRio’s Is Our School Safe? Safety Forum.

Is Our School Safe?  Safety Forum Follow-Up We had a good showing of parents and students turn out for our school safety forum on Wednesday, March 7 at 7pm in the Performing Arts Center (PAC). Principal Brian Ginter and SJUSD Safe Schools Team Leader, Sacramento County Sheriff, Kevin Givens detailed what is being done at Rio and the district level to keep campuses secure and safe. They also addressed parent/student questions and concerns for nearly two hours. Though Ginter and Givens assuaged many fears and concerns, here’s the take-away ACTION ITEMS: Parents and students are not accepting that Rio has done all it can to make its campus safe. More effort needs to be put into DETERRENCE at the school and distric level. Here is what needs to happen at the SCHOOL LEVEL: Take a “top-down” approach to having staff and students take the Lock-Down Drill more seriously. Principal Ginter will talk with staff about the Lock-Down Drill being enacted as a true lock-down emergency with consistent instructions among all staff. Students will be expected and required to treat the drill as a true emergency so students and staff can retain the “muscle memory” of what to do in a real high-adrenaline situation. Principal Ginter will follow-up on what is being done by counselors, staff, the district, and parents of student(s) who have been consistently identified as having aggressive/violent disciplinary action throughout their school history. Safe Schools has paid Sacramento County Sheriff officers rotating among its district campuses but no officer/squad car on campus at all times. Rio has 2 paid Campus Monitors patrolling campus, who cannot deter all entrance and exit to our campus. Here’s what needs to happen at the DISTRICT LEVEL: Parents need to contact San Juan Unified School District Board Members or attend a SJUSD board meeting (April 10 & 24 6:30pm) to voice insistence on having Rio and all SJUSD schools enclosed in fencing with a central location entry. This was just completed by the Elk Grove Unified School District in response to Sandy Hook. (Rio fenced off the levy after Sandy Hook.) Encourage the district to make  it a priority to find the money to do this. Parents need to contact San Juan Unified School District Board Members or attend a SJUSD board meeting (April 10 & 24 6:30pm) to voice insistence on paying for an armed private secutiry guard to be on school campuses at all times. Encourage the district to make it a priority to find the money to do this. There was two more ACTION ITEMS discussed that could happend immediately to provide a DETERRENT to violance on Rio’s campus: Parents would fund an armed private security guard to patrol Rio’s campus until suitable deterrents are put in place at the school and district level. Parents would form a Parent Patrol similar to Mariemont Elementary and Arden Middle School’s Watch D.O.G.S. program, but parents would be on campus every day. PLEASE TAKE THE POLL BELOW TO GAUGE PARENT INTEREST IN ENACTING THESE ACTION ITEMS. YOU’RE INVITED! Translation Showcase  an  Arts collaboration Event at Rio Americano High School. Students from six departments ( Photography, English, Art, Ceramics, Music and Video Production) translate each other’s work into their own medium. The students reveal and perform their work to each other and the audience at The Final Showcase Event. Translated Photographs, poems, paintings, ceramic sculptures and music all complimented by video production! Last year, over 300 students participated in Translations, the largest Arts collaboration in the District. Please join us to enjoy and be a part of our audience at TheTranslation Showcase Event! Date:  Monday, April 9th, 2018 Place:  Rio Americano’s  new Performing Arts Center Time:   7:00p.m. – 8:30pm

Civitas  and senior Owen Bister will host a workshop on Hate Crimes Thursday March 15 from 3-5pm in the Rio Library. The presentation will be done by the Anti Deformation League ADL and parents and students are invited to attend Earned Income Tax Credit Opportunity for Parents and Teachers Click HERE for more Seniors! Get Your Tix for Safe & Sober Grad Night 6/1-6/2 9pm – 5am Everyone’s going to this final send off for the Class of 2018 so don’t miss out on food, fun, bowling, games, prizes, music, karaoke, hypnotist, cartoonist and more at Strikes Unlimited Rockling! Click HERE for more info