Pubdate: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress (TX) Copyright: 2005 Jacksonville Progress Contact: http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3007 Author: April Barbe 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman