Oakland Unified hires first executive director of safety

In June 2020, on the peak of nationwide protests in regards to the George Floyd police, the varsity board of Oakland, unanimously to get rid of the varsity police and to develop a brand new strategy to security. Yesterday, the Oakland Unified Faculty District introduced its first recruitment for a newly created place: government director for varsity security.

Nelson Alegria will be a part of EUSD to have interaction the position of the Alameda County Workplace of Schooling. There he served as a supervisor for varsity security and emergency, and helped with the event of faculty security and emergency plans for district colleges. Alegria beforehand led the efforts within the area of security of faculty security and emergency conditions within the Pittsburg Unified Faculty District in Contra Costa County, served as a technician for emergency providers for Simi Valley Unified Faculty District and began his profession in public security as a cadet of a cadet within the cadet.

“What excites me most about this chance is the dedication of OUSD to rethink faculty security by way of the lens of racial justice,” mentioned Alegria in a announcement of Ousd. “I imagine that faculty security ought to all the time put the scholars before everything. Throughout my profession, I’ve tailor-made security methods to behavioral well being, pupil providers and restoration practices to ensure inclusive, trauma-inspired and truthful approaches to create a constructive faculty local weather.”

Within the new position, Alegria can be chargeable for coordinating security and emergency protocols for college students and workers, supervising security coverage and the procedures within the district, supervising security and safety workers, assessing potential safety threats and coordinating with legislative enforcement.

The recruitment is the latter in a collection of recent safety measures that OUSD has carried out for the reason that faculty board permitted the dissolution of the police of the district 5 years in the past. Since then, the district has developed and carried out a brand new security plan that provides particular procedures to name the police to high school campuses and a brand new protocol for responding to psychological well being care crises. As a substitute of faculty security officers, the District Tradition and Local weather Guards created whose indictment is to advertise relationships with college students and workers and to mediate conflicts earlier than they result in violence.

OUSD has additionally improved the protection at college campuses by making certain that each one websites have secured enter, registration techniques for company and safety cameras.

OUSD has needed to cope with a number of security threats on his campuses lately. In September 2022, a capturing on the campus had the King Estates Campus within the East Oakland Hills, who housed Rudsdale Excessive Faculty and Bay Space Know-how Academy Constitution Faculty, lifeless and 5 injured. David Sakurai, an OUSD -Timmerman, hung posters on the entrance of the varsity when two shooters opened the hearth from the doorway; He died seven weeks later from his accidents.

Skyline Excessive Faculty has one Shooting in September 2023 And a non -Fatale shootout after graduating in Could 2024, which wounded a number of folks. Faculties have additionally skilled a number of bomb threats and “shelter-on-place” orders when the police reply to threats within the neighborhood.

“This new government director of the safety position and the management of Mr Alegria are of important significance for our steady efforts to construct robust, protected and joyful colleges, based mostly on our decision of George Floyd,” mentioned interim superintendent Denise Saddler.

Since 2021, town has invested greater than $ 6 million in violence prevention in colleges. A report from 2023 confirmed that after the interruption of the interruption and prevention groups of violence, seven of the 15 secondary colleges of OUSD and continuation of the continuation, the district was a discount within the suspensions of the highschool for bodily violence.

From 2023 to 2025, town invested $ 5.4 million in a collection of faculty violence efforts similar to gender-based violence specialists, along with yielding a three-year federal subsidy for $ 1 million to finance three additional violence of violence.

Alegria begins his position on July 29.