Safe Schools For All

By Larry Sweeney

Every child has the right to be educated in a safe environment that is free from danger, harassment, bullying, name-calling and hazing.

Part of providing the safest and best-maintained schools and classrooms was the passage and implementation of the Health and Safety Bond, of which I worked to support. I was appointed to the first Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee and continue to work hard to make sure our projects are completed on time and on budget. This is in addition to our efforts to leverage State dollars to modernize our schools and classrooms as well as our on-going general and regular maintenance efforts.
Safe Schools also includes ongoing efforts to make sure that everyone, for any reason, at all of our campuses are safe from harassment, bullying, name-calling and hazing. We need to empower our teachers and students to confront harassment and bullying and be able to report it so interventions can take place and those behaviors will stop. We need a robust, easy to use and easy to understand Complaint Process in place so that any person who feels they are a victim of harassment, name-calling, bullying or hazing has an avenue to report the incident and receive the protection and intervention they deserve.
Easy to read and understand posters, need to be in every classroom telling all that harassment will not be tolerated and allowing for the effective and prompt reporting of these instances. This will allow the District to intervene, apply appropriate measures and keep track of instances of victimization, resulting in safer schools.
The Complaint Process would also allow the district to better monitor these instances so we can measure trends, provide direction and intervention, and keep a clear focus on making sure our schools are as safe as possible.
Also, the Fremont Unified School District works in constant partnership with the Fremont Police Department and City of Fremont to seek solutions to keep our students as safe as possible.