SCHOOL POLICE ADDRESS CONCERNS AFTER TEACHER ASSAULTS

With five officers on duty, the Jacksonville Independent School
District is a secure one, according to Jacksonville ISD Chief of
Police Rex Brown.

Brown has been with the district since 1998 and has seen only a few
offenses, which would be considered serious on a criminal level, in
almost eight years.

A"We've had two teachers assaulted this semester, but this happens
very rarely,A" Brown said. A"Our number one goal is for the safety
and security of the students and all employees, and our second goal
is to protect property.A"

JISD teachers attended a crisis intervention training seminar before
the start of the semester to educate them on how to handle certain
classroom situations, Brown said.

A"They don't really teach crisis intervention in college classes, and
we want them to know how to handle certain situations. The only time
a student wants to intervene into a situation is when the student is
going to hurt themselves or somebody else,A" Brown said.

Teachers recently attended classes for a seminar called A"Discipline
with Dignity.A" According to Scott Schwartz, assistant JHS principal,
the seminar provides teachers with different strategies for the
classroom in the areas of discipline, education and curriculum.

A"I look at it as giving them tools to use in every situation. Every
situation is different, and every student is different, and you can't
discipline them all the same way,A" Schwartz said.

Jacksonville ISD students come from a variety of different cultural
and economical backgrounds, according to Schwartz. He said school
staff try to recognize the different means for communicating with each student.

Officers begin educating students about crime prevention in middle
school. District officers include Brown, Marvin Acker at the high
school, Joey Ray at the middle school, Israel Meza at Nichol's
Intermediate and Greg Ray at the Compass Campus.

A"Because of our repoire with students, if another student had a
weapon like a knife or a firearm, and anybody else knows about it, we
will know,A" Brown said. A"We have really great students here.A"

School staff are trained to handle situations on every level,
including those requiring building and site evacuation. According to
Brown, the district has not had to implement the site evacuation plan.

A"Our goal is to strive to make the students safe and welcome to an
environment where they can learn, where their parents can feel safe
to send their child. That's why we provide the services,A" Schwartz said.

When it comes to drugs, Brown said a narcotics dog makes rounds on
campuses twice a month. The dog can detect narcotics, alcohol and gunpowder.

The service is provided by Interquest canines, a national firm,
started in 1970, that has worked in districts across the state of
Texas including Plano ISD, Denton ISD, Baytown ISD, Klein ISD, Lufkin
ISD, Kilgore ISD, Marshall ISD and Palestine ISD.

A"About a week before fall break in October, one of the dogs found
some marijuana hidden in a bathroom. It was about enough to make two
joints,A" Brown said.

Brown said between five and seven drug-related arrests are made each
year on JISD campuses.

There are two gangs represented on the JISD campuses - L3 and 13 St.
Brown said both gangs involve mostly Hispanics, but include all
races. Students who are associated with the gangs range from
sixth-graders to young adults just out of high school.

According to Brown gang-associated students do not give school
officials many problems. He said the students knew what they could
and could not do on campus. Although, graffiti shows up on and near
the campus sometimes.

Brown said the school's number one problem is with attendance.
Truancy is usually an issue on all school campuses, but Brown said
many people don't realize how much money truancy can cost a school district.

Otherwise, Brown said he feels students and staff on the campuses of
JISD are both safe and secure. And just to make sure, there are
surveillance cameras placed inside and outside of campus buildings.