I have been haunted by the attack last May on two of our Novato High students that left one dead and another severely wounded.  The grisly nature of the crime and the fact that it involved teenagers in the prime of lives, all who knew each other, has left me wondering where we have gone wrong in our society, and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent such a brutal act.  I am asked, “What are you going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” I have struggled with this question and I would like to share some of my reflections.  One thing that is quite clear to me is that there are no easy solutions, and that a multifaceted response involves three components: providing social emotional support, developing a strong school culture and climate, and ensuring physical safety and security.

Watching a family member learn their child has been killed was the saddest thing I have ever witnessed.  This child arrived to this country in January and had not seen his father for 12 years.  The other student who was brutally attacked arrived in April to be reunited with his parents whom he had not seen in 14 years.  Both were from Guatemala, a country torn by intense violence and unrest.  The two students accused of the attack were from El Salvador and arrived here a few years ago. El Salvador is another county torn by civil war and gang violence.  Despite one’s views on immigration, our laws make it clear that our schools are required to educate all students.  We take this responsibility very seriously.  Indeed, teaching newcomer students to be proficient in English as well as preparing them for college and career is a crucial investment in their education that will allow them to be productive members of our society.

One key area where we can improve is to work more closely with our newcomer students so we know more about them and their past in order to better meet their needs, both academically and social/emotionally. Most students arriving from Central and South America have experienced some kind of trauma.  Thanks to the generosity of the Marin Community Foundation and the Marin Health and Human Services Department, NUSD recently hired a bilingual counselor whose primary responsibility is to monitor our secondary newcomer students to ensure their needs are met and to track their progress.  Addressing the social/emotional needs of all our students through counseling support is a key component of creating safe schools, but is particularly necessary for our most vulnerable students.

In terms of developing a supportive school climate, we are working to ensure we have effective programs to teach conflict resolution, resist peer pressure, prevent bullying, use restorative justice practices and develop character.  All NUSD schools have these programs, but we need to review and support them to ensure they are having the kind of impact we expect.  Developing a positive school culture is not easy, but it is essential if we are to teach students the value of empathy, respect for differences, and kindness.  Most importantly, our staff need to know our students well.

Finally, we need to ensure our students are physically safe, which necessitates a close partnership with law enforcement, and we meet regularly with the Novato Police and the Marin Sherriff departments, along with our own North Bay Security group.  Gang awareness training for all staff is also essential.  We also need to increase our investment in video cameras on all of our campuses to provide better surveillance.  Campus security is a very important element of school safety, but it alone will not deter violence.  Most acts of aggression between students actually take place off of our school campuses.  While the number of suspensions and expulsions in NUSD due to violence has decreased in the district in recent years, we can do more.

What can we do to make sure this does not happen again?  We must provide counseling services and social emotional support to our students, we must develop a school culture of respect and tolerance, we must teach positive conflict resolution skills and character development, we must ensure proper supervision at all school sites and events, and we must address discipline issues fairly and effectively.  We must also do this in conjunction with our students, our parents, and our community partners.  Schools cannot combat violence by ourselves.  We must all work together to make school safety our top priority so that other fathers and mothers do not have to fear the loss of their child, and so that Edwin Josue Ramirez Guerra did not die in vain.