School Safety Blog
With the school year at an end for our students, SUSD’s Security team is already ramping up with preparations for next year.
Over the summer, we will conduct training for staff and ensure that the safety systems at all facilities are ready to go. Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) officers, along with our own SROs and district Security staff, will conduct threat and vulnerability assessments of each of our facilities. This assessment will help drive security improvements over the coming years. The ARCTIC assessment is completed every three years.
In addition, we will continue our enhancements and additions to our camera and access control systems. Students may get to enjoy the summer, but your SUSD Security team ramps up to not only complete the projects outline above but also to cover the more than 20 SUSD campuses that have activities taking place at them over the summer.
Enjoy your summer, stay safe and reach out with any safety or security concerns.
Josh Friedman, CEM
Director of Safety and Security
- 0625
One of the best parts of my job is working together with students to make our campuses safer and address their concerns. This school year, I’ve had the privilege of working with two incredible groups and advising a third whose work, hopefully, will bring changes to several campuses’ culture for many students in the years to come.
The first group I worked with was the student government at Mohave Middle School. These students had many questions about safety when it comes to getting to and from school, from e-bike rules, to crosswalks, to getting dropped off by parents. Their concerns were all valid and prompted several great discussions. They educated me on some of the behaviors they are seeing, and I was able to educate them on the reasons for the rules and regulations. In the end, we were able to understand our different points of view and work together on some future educational campaigns to help both students and parents on the topic of safe travel to and from school.
The second group that I’ve worked with is the Student Advisory Board (SAB). These high school students were amazing in their drive and determination to find solutions to many problems they encounter. After several meetings, they decided to focus on student vaping. While we reviewed many statistics regarding vape use across our district, they always wondered why someone vapes in the first place and how students acquire it. They challenged themselves to find the root cause and encouraged school staff to not only enforce SUSD’s Code of Conduct but also to ask student offenders when they started vaping and why. The SAB, comprised of student leaders from each of our high schools, is fighting to stop the cause of vaping, which they believe starts in middle school. The SAB has created some short videos to share with students across the district in an effort to help combat what it sees as a vaping epidemic.
The third group is a middle school group from Desert Canyon that started a campus student safety team to discuss safety issues they witness at school and learn how students can make a difference in the safety of their school. The future of this program includes a partnership with the Scottsdale Fire Department not only discussing campus safety issues but also learning safety skills directly from our community’s firefighter first responders, such as how to properly use fire extinguishers and what personal safety measures to take during storms. The goal of this program is to eventually make it available at all SUSD middle schools.
Working with students who are concerned about their safety and that of their classmates and teachers is a fun task. Seeing things from their perspective and understanding their needs and wants provides the opportunity to tailor solutions to each school’s campus culture. As long as we have students willing to make their own communities better, we will continue to encourage these growth and learning opportunities.
Josh Friedman, CEM
Director of Safety and Security
- 0525
As we enter the last push toward the end of the school year, there are many distractions as people ‒ especially our students ‒ begin to look forward to what’s next. ‘Tis the season of high emotions, anxiety and loneliness as project deadlines, final performances and final exams approach, not to mention saying farewell to friends, classmates, teachers and schools.
As a reminder, Scottsdale Unified School District does NOT permit ‒ nor will it approve, if asked ‒ any senior pranks. Any time a student (or staff member) is on campus when they are not scheduled to be, they can be subject to criminal trespassing charges. If the student is a senior, this alone can result in not being allowed to walk in the school’s graduation ceremony. If the activity undertaken while on campus illegally results in any damage, that individual can also be charged with a felony, in addition to facing school and district consequences. Again, for seniors, this may include being denied participation in graduation activities, as well as possible criminal charges. At a time when should be celebrating our graduating seniors and recognizing their accomplishments, it would be extremely unfortunate if one poor choice upends everything. Consequences for younger students could include starting next school year with a suspension and criminal charges.
Beyond annual senior pranks, please keep the general safety and mental health of your students in mind as they navigate many upcoming calendar events, such as prom, friends moving away, heading off to college, the end of relationships and more. Your school staff is always willing to speak with you about concerns you may have and offer feedback on new or changing behaviors they may be seeing in your student. SUSD has a strong Support Services organization and numerous resources to help students who struggle with this time – and any time – of year. Please remember that the safety and security of everyone on our campuses is everyone’s responsibility.
- 0425
Last month, we conducted a full-scale, active-shooter exercise at Saguaro High School. This included several hundred participants from the Scottsdale Police, Fire and Emergency Management departments, Scottsdale Unified School District, Phoenix Police, Paradise Valley Police, and SUSD parents and students.
This exercise allowed us as a group to work together and prepare for any emergency that might arise. We had more than 10 objectives that were broken into different areas. The drill was such a success, we met all of the objectives.
The lessons we learned as individual organizations and our interconnectivity and teamwork together are invaluable as we continue to face the challenges of the world today.
The Scottsdale Unified School District and our partnering public safety agencies are committed to continuing to work together and participate in drills and exercises in order to ensure every child and adult is safe while on our campuses.
- 0225
Great news!
We are excited to share that the School Safety Program Grant, which previously provided School Safety Officers (SSOs) for Yavapai and Anasazi Elementary schools, has been expanded by the Arizona Department of Education. The district applied for and has been awarded funds to provide all Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) elementary and K-8 schools with an SSO!
To clarify, the SSO model is different from the School Resource Officer (SRO) model. SSOs are not full-time staff assigned to campuses. Rather, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) contracts with a third party to place off-duty officers on school campuses. While the officer on duty may vary from day to day and may not always be from the same agency, each officer assigned as an SSO to an SUSD school will have completed all required training for this role. SSOs will be on our campuses when they choose to pick up a shift, not full-time.
On Tuesday, January 7, the SUSD Governing Board approved the use of the ADE grant to fund these positions through the 2025-2026 school year. ADE will now begin setting up the necessary services, and we anticipate that officers will start choosing shifts at your school within the next month.
Ensuring the safety and well-being of our students and staff is always an SUSD top priority. We are grateful for this opportunity to enhance our school safety efforts through the state’s expanded grant program.