Enhancing School Safety

April 17, 2024: Dr. Norman’s Follow-up

Parent A received a phone call from Dr. Norman’s office requesting a meeting next week to include Harry Torrence, the Director of Maintenance and Operations. The meeting is scheduled for the middle of next week.

April 16, 2024: OUSD Board Meeting

Four parents were prepared to speak to the board. There was a last minute agenda item added that they were unaware of, and during the course of the meeting, they were approached and it was offered to them to speak during the agendized items portion of the meeting instead of waiting until the end for non-agendized items. They accepted.

Various points were shared, all coming from things previously stated here (the fence is scalable, who the registered sex offender is who lives across the street and how serious that issue is, our attempts to collaborate previous to this through proper chains, etc.).

A compromise was offered, again. Prickly plants in the no-man’s land. This can solve all three parties’ interests:

  • Parents who oppose the privacy fencing: they can have their line of sight.
  • Parents who want the privacy fencing: at least people will stay away from the fence.
  • District staff who want to showcase the school’s beautiful campus.

Following the parents’ appeals to the board and staff, a presentation was given by the district IT department regarding the installed security cameras. Of particular note – the video is only stored in the cloud for 30 days; notifications of potential danger can be sent to authorized cell phones; and there are various types of detections that can be set up.

At the end of the agenda items, a short 10 minute break was offered. Parent A approached Ms. Alvarez, board president, who was speaking with Mr. Blessing to make sure she was aware that there is no cell phone coverage at Ivey making the notifications useless in that case. As it happens, Ms. Alvarez had done a site visit earlier that day and noticed the lack of coverage.

Superintendent Vitale and Associate Superintendent Norman approached the conversation at this point, introduced themselves and stated their agreement with adding landscaping to the no-man’s land outside the fence. The committed to making it happen and Dr. Norman stated that she would follow-up within the next few days.

April 15, 2024: Parent Email to PTO Opposing Privacy Fencing

A parent sent an email to the PTO raising concerns about privacy fencing. Concerns included:

  • Potential safety hazards created due to lack of sight off-campus: staff being unable to see if there was a dangerous situation happening outside the fence.
  • Potential safety concerns with regard to front line safety workers (police, fire) being able to see if there was an emergency happening inside the fence.
  • Potential safety risk of someone injuring the children with guns from the outside of the fence without the staff knowing or being able to protect the children from the inside.

The final concern was related to the PTO using its position to express individual parents’ concerns and support the privacy fencing, while not taking into account parents who oppose the privacy panels.

April 10, 2024: California Public Records Request Response

Parent A received a letter stating that the district will respond to the CPRA request on or about May 6, 2024.

April 9, 2024: Nearby Attempted Child Abduction

During spring break, a child was approached by an adult male in a white sedan just outside the north gate of the Ivey Glen neighborhood (see map below). The man told the child that he had video games at home and asked him to get in his vehicle so they could go play video games together. The child refused and went home to tell his parents. A police report has been filed, but to protect the privacy of the child it will not be published here. Ms. Harrington and Mr. Blessing have been notified of the incident; not to document it, but to be aware that these things are happening too close to the school for there to not be some sort of barrier between our kids and the general public.

April 5, 2024: Ms. Harrington’s Answers

The only answer that was received was, “I will be documenting incidents as they occur and are reported.”

Parent A responded and re-asked the following:

  • What defines an incident?
  • Who can report them?
  • How do they report them?

It was also made clear that if there isn’t a way for parents to report issues they witness, one would be created and made accessible.

April 4, 2024: Harrington/Parent Meeting Recap

Parent A met with Ms. Harrington to get answers to the questions submitted via email on 3/28. Ms. Harrington was uncomfortable being recorded, but stated that she’d been working on answers to the questions and would have some she would be able to provide in writing very soon.

April 2, 2024: Ms. Harrington’s Response to Parent

Ms. Harrington responded to Parent A asking for a meeting.

March 28, 2024: Parent Email to Mr. Blessing and Ms. Harrington

PTO member was made aware of two incidents that happened this week:

  1. A kindergarten student was able to climb the “non-scalable” black fencing and made it all the way to the top.
  2. An older gentleman waited at the back gate until a BASE parent came to pick up their child. As the parent was let through the gate, this man attempted to follow. He was told he could not come on campus. He stopped but loitered around the outside of the gate and around the fence. This was all radioed into the office.

Parent A sent an email to Ms. Harrington and Mr. Blessing asking the following questions:

To Mr. Blessing:

  • How do you define “issues”?
  • Who determines whether “such incidents … are potentially affected by the black vinyl fencing option approach”?

To Ms. Harrington:

  • Are you aware of Mr. Blessing’s definition of “issue”?
  • How are the incidents/issues being documented?
  • How will Mr. Blessing know what issues have occurred?
  • Who is keeping track and where is that log located?
  • Who can report an issue?
  • How do they report it?
  • Where does all of that information live?

Both Mr. Blessing and Ms. Harrington were made aware of the incidents noted above in this email, though Ms. Harrington should have already been aware.

March 24, 2024: Parent Submitted CPRA Request

Parent A submitted a CPRA (California Public Records Act) request for all of the following that took place between 1/1/2022 and 3/24/2024.

  • All information related to the replacement of the fence at Ivey Ranch Elementary School, including all correspondence between Ivey Elementary School staff, OUSD district staff, members of the OUSD Board of Trustees, and any consultants, contractors or agents of OUSD, including any correspondence with members of the public about the same. 
  • All information related to the installation of virtual security systems (i.e., security cameras) at Ivey Ranch Elementary School, including all correspondence between Ivey Elementary School staff, OUSD district staff, members of the OUSD Board of Trustees, and any consultants, contractors or agents of OUSD, including any correspondence with members of the public about the same.
  • All information related to discussions and coordination with the Parent Teacher Organization (“PTO”) at Ivey Ranch Elementary School about security related issues.

March 21, 2024: Blessing’s Response to Parent

Mr. Blessing encouraged Parent C to “balance this issue with the educational benefits of Ivey Ranch.” He disagrees with “the thesis that privacy fencing will solve the problems” better than cameras will, and claims that a “prison like barrier wall surrounding a beautiful campus” nullifies the camera option. He refused to “bring this item to the board for a change to a barrier fence.”

To address the parent’s transparency regarding moving their children to a different school in a different district, he suggested that they look at McAuliffe Elementary “which sits up on a hill at the end of a residential cul-de-sac and is very much isolated from the adjacent Palisades City Park as well by natural barriers and hillside slopes.”

March 20, 2024: Parent Email to Mike Blessing

Parent C responded to Mr. Blessing’s email to see what types of incidents occur over the next year before evaluating this issue again. This email documented three very recent incidents:

  • Middle and high school students calling over the smaller kids to the fence and then coaching them to say profanities. Then filming those children to share in their Snap Chat accounts.
  • The man mentioned below who encouraged some students to come pet his dogs through the fence.
  • A woman filming and taking photos, being asked to stop, and then continuing to do it after the noon duty walked away.

Parent C also made it known that the principal and vice principal are aware of these types of issues, and requested that Mr. Blessing have the fence issue added to the next board meeting agenda.

Parent C was transparent in their consideration of moving their children out of the district.

March 19, 2024: Photo Received by PTO

A photo of a man with two dogs on the outside of the fence, interacting with two children on the inside of the fence was shared with the PTO. To protect the privacy of the children, the photo will not be shared online.

March 18, 2024: District’s Initial FOIA Response

Parent A received a response from the office of Todd McAteer indicating that information they could share regarding the winning bid for the security cameras would be sent on or around April 15th.

March 18, 2024: District Email Response to Parent

Parent C received a response to her inquiries from Mike Blessing. In short:

  • The superintendent’s response is the correct approach.
  • The school board has great relationships with OPD and the Chief and believe that the new fence and new camera system provides the best security.
  • Acknowledges that others have raised concerns, but believes doing nothing is the right way to proceed.
  • Wants to see what types of incidents occur over the next year and how well the camera security system works.
  • Promised to revisit after a year of issues to see what the nature of the issues are before doing anything else about the fence.

March 16, 2024: Staff Member Expresses Concerns to PTO

A staff member verbally expressed concerns regarding the safety of the smaller children to a member of the PTO. This staff member has witnessed, on many occasions, the middle and high school students walking near the fence, calling the smaller children over, and trying to get them to say inappropriate things because they think it’s funny. They do not appear to be related to the smaller children.

March 15, 2024: PTO Email to Parents/Guardians

A follow-up email to the one sent on 3/8/24 was sent to parents. The email shared research the PTO had done with regards to what could happen to help both sides, as well as some notes from the meeting with Ms. Harrington on 3/13/24.

March 13, 2024: School Site Council Meeting

A member of the School Site Council brought up the fence during the new business/other notes at the end of the meeting. It was not well received. Meeting notes can be found here.

March 13, 2024: PTO Meeting with Ms. Harrington

Three members of the PTO board met with Ms. Harrington to discuss options and try to reach an acceptable compromise. Two district documents were presented to Ms. Harrington:

A compromise was also presented: prickly planting between the trees on the outside of the fence. Ms. Harrington promised to share the proposed compromise with the district. PTO members asked to be copied on the email to the district with the proposed solution. As of 3/19/24 nothing has been received by any member of the PTO.

March 13, 2024: Parent Meeting with Ms. Harrington

Parent C met with Ms. Harrington to discuss options. They presented to her the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – Safety and Security (ousdplan.org) document on the district’s website. A follow up email was sent after the meeting that included a link to the document.

Other items discussed/presented during this meeting:

  • The cameras are not being monitored by anyone but Ms. Harrington throughout the day.
  • Ms. Harrington confirmed that landscaping below five (5) feet would not obstruct the cameras’ views of the perimeter.
  • It is believed by Ms. Harrington that the Oceanside Police Department is in agreement with the camera plan. This has not been confirmed in writing as of 3/19/24.

March 12, 2024: Ms. Harrington Response to Parent Email

Ms. Harrington responded to Parent A’s email from 3/11/24 regarding the violated school district policy, stating that “It is a verbal policy, more of a protocol that the District has agreed to. It is not a written policy.”

March 11, 2024: Parent Email to Ms. Harrington

Parent A responded to Ms. Harrington’s email from 3/4/24 regarding the school district policies that were violated in the installation of the privacy screens.

March 8, 2024: Ms. Harrington Requests Meeting with PTO

A school staff member reached out to the PTO President, on behalf of Ms. Harrington, requesting a meeting for the following Wednesday afternoon.

March 8, 2024: PTO Email to Parents/Guardians

An email detailing research done by the PTO was sent to parents to help educate them on the importance of the issue and encouraging them to get involved. The following suggestions were made for parent/guardian involvement:

  • Call Superintendent Vitale at 760.966.4006.
  • Email Superintendent Vitale at julie.vitale@oside.us.
  • Attend the PTO meeting on March 20th.
  • Sign the petition created by the PTO.

As part of the research for the email to parents and responses to the district, the following district policies were reviewed. We’re linking them here for knowledge purposes only – none of them mention anything about the safety or security of campus perimeters.

March 8, 2024: Parent FOIA Request to the District

Because the cameras were recently presented as a replacement to the privacy panels in the fence, Parent A reviewed the request for proposals (RFP) document published by the district in November of 2023 for the cameras and their installation. (To learn more about requests for proposals, what they are, etc., click here.) The RFP was vague on how the cameras would be used, who would have access to live streaming vs. cloud content, etc., so a request was submitted (under the Freedom of Information Act) to the district for a copy of the winning proposal (also known as a FOIA request).

March 4, 2024: Parent Email to Superintendent

Parent K forwarded their email from January 17th (above) to Superintendent Vitale asking for a review of the messages being sent from them and others. As of 3/19/24 no response has been received.

March 4, 2024: Ms. Harrington Email to Parents/Guardians

Ms. Harrington emailed parents, guardians, and school staff regarding the installation of the privacy screens the day before and their immediate removal this morning. This email was the first mention of the new cameras that were installed and the dependence on them for the safety and security of Ivey Ranch students. The email states that the installation of the privacy screens was a breach of trust and violation of school district policies. No policies were provided.

March 4, 2024: District Removal of Privacy Screens

The district dispatched five pick-up trucks and at least as many district employees, to immediately remove the privacy screens.

March 3, 2024: Installation of Privacy Screens

Privacy screens were applied to the fence. No structural modifications to the fence were made.

February 7, 2024: In-person Notification of Privacy Screen Installation

Because no response was received to the email on 2/5/24, an in-person notification was made to Ms. Harrington of the upcoming installation of the privacy screens. It was not objected to.

February 5, 2024: PTO Email to Ms. Harrington

PTO notified Ms. Harrington, via email, that the privacy screens would be installed during President’s Week. (Unfortunately, they were not received in time so were installed later as is noted below.)

February 1, 2024: Parent Email to “Feedback”

Parent E sent an email to feedback@oside.com. As of 3/19/24 a response has not been received. Concerns included:

  • Adults parking along Mesa and using a phone to film students while at recess.
  • Adults calling children to the fence.
  • An occupied white van has been seen parked on Mesa during pick-up. The van did not move, and it did not seem like they were there to pick up or drop off a student.
  • A registered sex offender lives in the neighborhood directly across the street from the school (St. Cloud).

January 17, 2024: PTO Meeting

Ms. Harrington communicated to the PTO and attending parents that the fencing is standard and no modifications were allowed. Other safety protocols are in place to replace the privacy panels. Many attendees were not happy with the response and asked who to voice their concerns to. Ms. Harrington gave the information for Vicki Gravlin (vicki.gravlin@oside.us), Harry Torrence (harry.torrence@oside.us), and Andrea Norman (andrea.norman@oside.us).

Complete notes can be found here.

January 17, 2024: Parent Email to Vicki Gravlin

Parent K sent an email to Vicki Gravlin. As of 3/19/24 as response has not been received.

Ms. Gravlin was made aware of the grant that was used to purchase the previous privacy panels, as well as the hours of PTO, parent, community, and volunteer time that were put into installing them. The district did not financially support the panels, but they did approve them.

Concerns included:

  • The fence was replaced during school hours, creating an unsafe environment for the children who were playing on the playground during the installation.
  • During lunch and recess, people have been observed in their cars and on the sidewalk taking videos of the children.
  • Adults have been seen calling children to the fence. Some are relatives.
  • A large white work van has been seen parked along Mesa with no apparent reason.
  • A registered sex offender lives in the neighborhood across the street.
  • Students are visible from that fence while going between their classroom and the restroom.

December 11, 2023: Ms. Harrington Response to Parent

Ms. Harrington responded to Parent K’s email from 12/8/23 stating that she was researching different options for privacy and hoped to have some answers soon.

December 8, 2024: Parent Email to Ms. Harrington

Parent K sent an email to Ms. Harrington voicing concerns about the lack of privacy the new fence provides. These concerns included:

  • Cars parked along Mesa during school hours, with adults watching and filming the children.
  • Adults (sometimes family members, sometimes not) approaching the fence and talking to children.

November 17, 2023: Parent Email to Ms. Goss

Parent K sent a follow up email to Ms. Goss asking about an update to the privacy fence panels. Ms. Goss responded the same day stating that she’d sent a follow up email and would let Parent K know when she heard back. No response was received between that date and 3/19/24.

November 15, 2023: PTO Meeting Notes

The very last note in the PTO Meeting Notes says that Ms. Goss is waiting to get more information from the district regarding the privacy slots for the fence.