Safety
Attendance Improvement and Truancy Reduction
This year’s highest priority is the Attendance Improvement and Truancy Reduction Program, which aims to keep students safe and increase their opportunities for learning by providing more support and accountability for students who are not in school.improving attendance and ultimately reducing the drop out rate. PUSD officials, with the assistance of the City Prosecutor and the District Attorney, are working with individual schools on creating accurate attendance records and meeting with students and their parents regarding truancy laws and the underlying causes of truancy. PUSD will be reinstating SARB (Student Attendance Review Board) in September to track and counsel chronic truants while providing them and their families with support to improve attendance. The ultimate goal of this program is to keep students engaged in their education and to reduce the dropout rate.
Campus Security
PUSD, with the approval of their Personnel Commission, has revised the job description and scope of work for campus security personnel. In order to provide high-quality, uniform delivery of services to secondary campuses, the Board and City Council have made this issue the #2 priority for the Joint Staff Committee. The job description now requires that applicants meet physical as well as aptitude qualifications. Pasadena Police Department (PPD) will provide training for security officers and staff four times per year and will provide the officers’ uniforms. While the supervision of Security Officers are under PUSD’s Director Child Welfare, Attendance and Safety, PPD’s involvement with the Security Officers will allow better interaction between them and the Safe Schools Team, more even deployment of resources and more standard alignment with the City of Pasadena’s Security Officers.
Pasadena Safe Schools Team
The “Pasadena Safe Schools Team,“ composed of members of the Pasadena Police Department, now provides policing services to all the Pasadena schools located within PUSD. Each High School campus has a dedicated officer, and plans are in progress to expand the service to the middle schools two days a week. Officers have requested to join the Team and as a result of their ongoing presence, Safe Schools Team members have developed a positive rapport with the students. The Safe Schools Team is fully funded by the City of Pasadena including salaries, equipment, vehicles and supplies which frees up PUSD funds for other core educational purposes.