18 Jun 2004
Superintendent Says District Will Focus On Its Efforts,
But Feels Schools Are No Longer Considered As Safe Havens From Criminal Activities
DALLAS—Following the announcement of a 13-point plan to enhance safety in the Dallas Independent School District's 218 schools, Superintendent Mike Moses on Friday said the problems associated with school safety do not all rest with the school district.
Instead, he said, the message to the community is simple: "We need your help."
"We have issues in our schools and we are addressing them, but the message we want everyone to understand is that we need help on safeguarding the perimeters of our campuses," Moses said. "This past school year, we had a lady murdered on one of our elementary campuses at seven o'clock in the evening. A youngster was stabbed to death just outside the building on one of our campuses. Another person committed suicide behind an elementary school.
"Criminals are using our schools as shields. Our schools are not being respected and honored as safe havens for children, and I think that is a community problem."
During the Wednesday Committee of the Whole meeting with the district's nine trustees, the superintendent and other district officials presented a list of activities that had taken place on and near district campuses throughout the 2003-04 school year.
Trustees were presented with a 13-point plan that the administration will likely use to make formal recommendations later this summer, but the superintendent said Thursday that the emphasis must be on getting support from law enforcement agencies as well as members of the community.
"We looked internally to see what we could do and presented a list of items that need to be addressed, but what we are saying to the Dallas community is, 'We need your help. We need help in terms of protecting the perimeter of our campuses, and making our schools safer places for kids.' We are not pointing fingers at anyone, but it appears that priority has slipped away in recent years and we must all do something about it," Moses said.
The superintendent said he had met recently with Mayor Laura Miller, District Attorney Bill Hill and other key law enforcement agencies in the city. He also has an appointment soon to meet with Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle.
Moses said that the district cannot ask for assistance from others without focusing at the same time on operations within.
"We can't ask the community and law enforcement agencies for their help and not look at ourselves and ask, 'What else can we do? What other steps can we take to ensure that our schools are safe once the children arrive?'" Moses said.
The superintendent said he is working to schedule a date in late July with a host of community representatives and leaders who will be asked to listen to the district's concerns and work in a communitywide effort to make neighborhoods safer so that schools will also be safer. The date and time will be announced once civic leaders have confirmed their attendance.