Edhat Staff
By the edhat staff
Parents of Canalino Elementary School students voiced safety concerns during Tuesday’s Carpinteria Unified School District board meeting following two intruder incidents.
On April 13, two unidentified men entered the campus at an unknown location and were spotted by a district employee near the District Office. The Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD), Carpinteria Family School, and Canalino Elementary School share a campus with no fences between them. Principal Jamie Persoon stated the men were most likely on campus for about 10 to 15 minutes, in an interview with The Independent.
When confronted, one man stated he was a parent of a third grader and provided a name. The staff member began to guide the men to the school office where they needed to sign in when they took off running towards an exit and fled the area. The name of the student the man provided was not found on file with the school.
The staffer then called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office who responded to the school about ten minutes later, approximately thirty minutes after the men were suspected to arrive on campus, but were unable to find the men, reports The Independent.
The school and classrooms were not locked down during the incident.
While school officials believe the men climbed over a neighboring fence from a residential area onto school property, it’s not confirmed if this is how they accessed the campus or how long they were there before being spotted.
A group of Canalino parents attended the meeting to express their concerns over security protocols and administrative transparency.
“If all safety procedures were indeed adhered to during the intruder event, I am not left with confidence in the systems in place,” said Canalino parent Ingrid Bostrom. “Now is the time to re-evaluate and restructure so we’re never left wondering, ‘did we do enough to protect our children?’ Sadly we no longer live in a society where a ‘wait and see’ approach is sufficient.”
Canalino parent Aja Forner brought up a second incident where someone breached the school’s gates less than a month earlier.
“On March 22, a mentally ill woman entered a TK classroom during school hours. She was escorted back out to the parking lot by a staff member. Thankfully no children or staff were hurt,” said Forner. “School is a place of learning. I ask this be a learning lesson, please consider updating protocols to meet the climate we are currently living in. Unfortunately school shootings are happening more and more. The protocols in place are not enough to protect our children and staff.”
Principal Jamie Persoon stated a “mentally ill” woman had arrived in the school’s parking lot when parents were picking up their children after the dismissal bell rang. The TK class releases from a classroom door that is accessible to the parking lot and a woman entered the class and was there for less than 20 seconds before a teacher intercepted and directed her back to the parking lot. The teacher reassured parents the woman was never threatening and was quickly met by a Sheriff’s Deputy.
Other parents criticized the school’s slow response to contact the Sheriff’s Office and to initiate a lockdown.
School Board President Jaime Diamond stated new security cameras will be installed on Canalino’s campus, fewer gates will be unlocked before and after school sessions, and other safety protocols have been revised.
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April 24, 2023: Two Men Trespassing on Canalino Elementary School Property
[4/30/23: This article has been updated to include minor clarifications regarding campus layout and added comments by Principal Jamie Persoon on the March trespasser incident.]
“Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the school about thirty minutes later”
I believe it was 30 mins total from when the men set foot on campus.
So true Ingrid. Wait and see is not a viable option. Glad your speaking out.
And by the way… you’re a wonderful and talented photographer .
So glad you have the courage to speak out and make sure all our kiddos are safe and protocols are real.
Thank you GeneralTree for emphasing the hard to believe. I can get anywhere in Carp in 5 minutes, without speeding or rolling code 3.
For those attempting to criticize SBSO. You’re missing all the context. There is no indication of when SBSO was called. They weren’t called until after the men were stopped, questioned, walked to the office, and then fled. And then where we’re they driving from? They have jurisdiction all the way through Montecito. You’re likely the same people who want them off school campuses in the first place.
the men were not walked to the office. they were walking through the campus, stopped and questioned. They answered, continuing to walk and then ran. The office could check the names that were given over the radio. They were off campus in an instant. Police were called, but it was known they were long gone.
Although the CANALINO Principal Persoon continues her attempt to squash accurate information on the PARENTSQUARE accounts that she supervises and controls, she does not have the same authority to do that on EDHAT. Thank goodness.
To better understand the intruder event at CANALINO, these details are worth considering:
•The intruder event began at the DO and spilled over to the CFS and CANALINO campuses when immediate measures to report the intruders were not taken.
•# 911 was NOT immediately called. Meanwhile, the intruders were permitted to enter school-site grounds adjacent the District office, where District personnel & students remained; entirely unaware that intruders were on campus.
•Although the intruders were on the District property for at least 10 minutes, there was no school-wide notification or alert of an intruder on campus.
This meant that teachers continued to send aides and students, our children, out into the open & public spaces on campus, while the intruders were present.
•Superintendent Rigby’s statement that “district employees followed the district’s safety protocols.” are in complete conflict with the District’s HOUR-ZERO safety training & protocols.
That the CANALINO SCHOOL SITE PLAN was followed does not mean employees followed ALL SAFETY protocols, as stated by Superintendent Rigby to the community and media outlets. The CANALINO SCHOOL SITE PLAN is intended to be used in unison with CUSD’s HOUR-ZERO incident response protocols.
Again, District Office, CFS or CANALINO personnel DID NOT RECEIVE ANY immediate alert or notification, as these HOUR-ZERO trainings and protocols require.
•Neither the CANALINO Principal was immediately notified, nor was 911 called until after the intruders fled from the campus on their own accord.
You’re basically advocating 911 be called any time anyone identifies themselves as a parent on campus. Can we try to think logically here? Of course the police weren’t called until these two took off running. There was no emergency or threat until that point.
People can quickly and easily jump the fence at any school campus. They can also easily walk through the main entrance and ignore school staff. Personally, I would not want my school to look like a walled prison, even then, someone wanting to do bad could till get access… It sounds like that school is taking some steps to limit access, but I do know that the youth in Carp take their liberties with shortcuts.
It is important to note that campus staff (with radios) confronted these people quickly. That is the response you want to see. They were not left to loiter and they literally ran off campus where campus staff continued to follow them with a radio. They did call the police, but as noted, it was evident the trespassers were long gone. If the school staff saw them as a threat or trying to access classrooms, I’m certain different steps would have been taken.
Reading comprehension is important:
After the men fled, “The staffer then called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office [who?] responded to the school about ten minutes later, approximately thirty minutes after the men were suspected to arrive on campus…”
Edhat would not disagree that they are summarizing others’ news reports. This story was covered by the Independent, Noozhawk, Coastal View, and probably KEYT, if not more. Please don’t get your news from just one source and if you’re interested in a story or are making a critique, look for further information to get a larger view of events.
Also, the Sheriffs may well have been looking for the men as they drove to the school, so that may account for some of the ten minutes it took them to respond to the school.
There’s more detail here:
https://www.independent.com/2023/04/21/sheriffs-office-investigating-trespassing-incident-at-canalino-elementary-in-carpinteria/
and here:
https://www.independent.com/2023/04/21/sheriffs-office-investigating-trespassing-incident-at-canalino-elementary-in-carpinteria/
A hypothesis about why they were on campus:
“She (Principal Persoon) provided an update at 4:17 p.m., saying that it was “likely” the trespassers had come from the Pacific Village neighborhood behind the school, following a report from a Canalino parent. The parent told Persoon that the gate to his backyard, which has a wall adjacent to the district office, “was damaged and broken.”
“[The parent] believes that the pair were attempting a robbery … and saw his large, intimidating dog who likely barked at them,” Persoon wrote on ParentSquare.
“We don’t know this for sure,” she told the Indy, “but we think that they jumped over that wall to get away from the dog and then landed on the district office property. And then, when you get there, you can’t get out. So we think they were trying to figure out how to get away from the campus, not necessarily to be on the campus.”
Parents were frustrated that these men were on campus for about 30 mins before law enforcement arrived. Granted, they were called late. Kudos to parents for speaking up and asking for more information and increased security. If a mentally ill person can walk into a TK Class?!?! (TK is 4 and 5 year olds.) then something is really wrong. No person should be able to just walk off the street into a class.
I also see how hard it may be for admin/staff to know where these men came from if they hopped a fence from a house. They don’t want to profile people in case they are actually a parent, but once the men were noticed then it sounds like they jumped on it.
I don’t want our schools policed and militarized, BUT America’s disgusting obsession with guns is leaving us with no choice.
I don’t think your first sentence is accurate. But it’s up to law enforcement to investigate the timeline.
So, what do these parents want to happen? Fenced up, security, metal detectors, all jail-style? Would be nice if these people would share what they expect to happen. I’m not okay with our schools looking like prisons, I think that is more traumatic than the threat of school shootings. One could even argue it’s more dangerous. Things happen, we cannot protect from every wandering campus intruder. Just don’t get what these parents expect to be done. Let’s be realistic.
Thank you. Your statements regarding “fixed budgets” are relevant and valuable. It is worth considering whether federal dollars can and should rightfully be invested to increase the safety posture of our k-12 public school districts.
In the meantime,
The SAFETY initiatives provided in my recent post (above) would amount to budget dust, in regard to the District moneys available for this topic. District employees understand that these monies impact available dollars for compensation and programs in the teaching and learning environment. That said, it is understood that our first priority is acting proactively to ensure the SAFETY and well being of District students, employees, and their families.
Not every danger can be prevented, but the District has a responsibility to implement routine and cost effective methods at its disposal. Again, these SAFETY initiatives (cited in said previous post) once existed across the District, before the current Superintendent divested in these practices.
More security comes out of the same budget as everything else. School boards have to choose between more teachers to lower class size, higher wages for staff, or more support staff for supervision or security. They have a fixed budget. Since federal gun laws affect everyone, I’d appreciate some federal dollars to help pay for this… I don’t know if it will actually affect gun related crimes on campuses, but I am certain that it would help with other campus safety issues and be much appreciated by school staff.
All schools should be guarded like prisons until there is comprehensive gun reform in this country
Thank you.
The SAFETY initiatives provided in my recent post, would amount to budget dust, in regard to the moneys available for this topic. District employees understand that these monies impact available dollars for compensation and programs in the teaching and learning environment. That said, it is understood that our first priority is acting proactively to ensure the SAFETY and well being of District students, employees, and their families. Not every danger can be prevented, but the District has a responsibility to implement routine and cost effective methods at its disposal.
Again, these SAFETY initiatives once existed across the District, the before current Superintendent divested in these practices.
Although it appears that the CANALINO Principal is beginning to hear and implement the routine SAFETY practices that have been placed before her for years, the ultimate responsibility for the SAFETY posture of CANALINO and the entire District, belongs to Superintendent Rigby, her Senior leadership team, and the Board of Education.
I regard to the comprehensive SAFETY posture of the CUSD, parents, employees, and employee leadership encourage a return to more rigorous SAFETY environment that was in place when Superintendent Rigby arrived. [i.e. Before Rigby thoroughly divested in years of hard-work and collaboration around SAFETY.]
Fortunately, we know what needs to be done, B/C we’ve done it before. CUSD is capable of the implementing these low cost highly effective and much needed SAFETY improvements, including:
1.) Standardized School-Site / Facility Visitor Registration Processes: To ensure that we know who is on our school-site and facilities at any time.
2.) District-Wide Security Badging: To easily identify District Personnel, Routine Visitors (i.e. Substitute Teachers, Parent Helpers, Mentors, Contractors, etc.) & Guest Visitors, from intruders and tresspassers
3.) Single Access Points @ School-Site / Facility: to include all hours that students are in our care, including Instructional & After School Program Hours
4.) District-Wide CPR & First Aid Training: for all employees, w/ annual Certification offered to all interested District employees (And how about including interested parents and community members?)
5.) SCHOOL-SITE/FACILITY SAFETY COMMITTEES: Reinitiating significantly more robust, transparent, inclusive, and effective safety committees at the School-Site/Facility level.
* to include parents, site-administrators, counselors, student representative/s, site faculty & support staff, & school-site union representatives.
* meeting at least monthly; sharing and receiving information (in the form of formal minutes, recommendations, concerns, etc.) directly w/ the CUSD SAFETY COMMITTEE
6.) DISTRICT SAFETY COMMITTEE: Reinitiating significantly more robust, transparent, inclusive, and effective safety committees at the School-Site/Facility level.
* to include CUSD Superintendent, CUSD HR Director, School Site-Principal, CUSD Department Directors / Supervisors , elected Union representatives, HS student representative, Mental Health specialist, External Agency Partners (ex. Law, Fire & Rescue, Carpinteria Planning, SB County Ready, Set, Prepare, etc.), & Parent Leaders/PTA Presidents
* meeting at least monthly; sharing & receiving information (in the form of formal minutes, recommendations, concerns, etc.) directly w/ the SCHOOL SITE SAFETY COMMITTEES & the CUSD SCHOOL BOARD
Before the current District administration, these SAFETY initiatives, cited above, existed and functioned without creating an oppressive or burdensome atmosphere. It’s certainly not too late to prioritize and reinvest in reasonable and demonstrably effective SAFETY practices, to ensure the SAFETY of District students, employees, and families.
Federally funded armed security in our schools needed now!
Hey TEJANO – how’d that “federally funded armed security” work out in Ulvade? Remind us what the “good guys with guns” did.
11:49 – Only a complete idiot would think that more guns is the right answer to the problem of too many guns.
This in response to, a-1682694534’s, comments :
There is a front door at the school. If an individual wants to come in, they hit a buzzer and are allowed entry into the main office, where they are asked to verify their identity and register with the front desk staff and administration.
There is a process. that these intruders clearly circumvented. Therefore, the intruders had already failed to cooperate with the very reasonable and unobtrusive practices that exist.
Think of it this way: If while at home, you came upon two adult males with face masks in your house, would you think first, as per the CANALINO School Site Plan, to “Politely greet guest/intruder and identify yourself.”
Or would be inclined to call 911 and prepare to protect the safety of your children and family?