Sanger High School has multiple systems in place to protect the campus, the students and faculty inhabiting school grounds. With five campus safety officers, the total number of years of experience combined is over 100 years.
That said, Micheal Montelongo, a campus safety officer of 26 years, assures students that he believes that, “we have the best security team here at Sanger High.”
The goal of campus safety is to, “continue to work hard to improve our security measures on our campus administration,” said Montelongo.
Sanger High School Principal Kirstin Coronado said administration is always looking for updated tools and strategies to improve campus security. As of press time, Coronado personally believes that Sanger High is safe and secure with the current safety measures already in place.
“I feel SHS is very safe,” said Coronado.
Some of the security measures include the use of golf carts to monitor campus, as well as cameras and the perimeter fence to keep the school and students safe. The security team also works with the school’s campus monitors, two school resource officers, and one probation officer on campus. The school’s assigned radios also play a major role in the communication of the team.
As far as improvements to Sanger High’s security goes, Montelongo believes that improvement of security will come from improving communication.
“One of my biggest goals is to have better communication with our school administration regarding our school safety plans,” said Montelongo.
The ability for teachers to be permitted to carry concealed weapons on campus is another form of campus security that has been banned in California.
Assembly Bill No.424, which was approved by the California Governor on October 14, 2017, relates to the possession of firearms in a school zone. While the Bill does not apply to duly authorized appointed peace officers right to carry near and on school grounds, the Bill details how, “Any person who possesses a firearm in a place that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (e), shall be punished as specified in subdivision (f).”
California is currently one of 28 states which does not allow teachers and staff the right to conceal carry. Meanwhile 32 states do allow concealed carry by teachers and staff as a means of protection in school zones, according to usconcealedcarry.com
Restrictions vary from state to state regarding the right to concealed carry on school campuses.
For example, in the state of Alaska concealed carry by staff and teachers depends on the permission of the school. In Texas, the person in question must be a designed school marshal, according to the concealed carry website.
While there previously were school districts that allowed conceal carry by teachers and staff on school campuses, Assembly Bill No.424 prohibited it. Kingsburg High School originally had implemented conceal carry prior to the Bill.