Gun magazine prompts lockdown at Thermal schools; incident follows student protests over safety
Three public schools that share a campus near Thermal were locked down for two hours Tuesday after a student turned in a gun magazine loaded with bullets, the Coachella Valley Unified School District announced. The lockdown was lifted around 12:20 p.m.
The incident came amid the latest student protest over how school administrators handle such emergencies, including delays in informing the public.
The three schools are Las Palmitas Elementary, Toro Canyon Middle and Desert Mirage High located at the intersection of 66th Avenue and Tyler Street, south of Thermal and west of Mecca. The district said Riverside County sheriff's deputies were investigating, but as of Tuesday afternoon, about four hours after the lockdown began, the sheriff's department had made no public announcement.
This is the second time this year the schools have been placed on lockdown. In November, a student was seen at one of the schools with a gun and what appeared to be an explosive device. The latter later turned out to be a toy, but approximately 3,700 students plus staff were evacuated to other school sites as a precaution.
The lockdown began as about 100 students from the high school were approximately halfway through a six-mile march to the district headquarters in Thermal to protest the district's security protocols and advocate for better teacher pay.
Upon arriving at the district office, students spoke with Superintendent Luis Valentino and Trustee Joey Acuña. The students remained at the office until the lockdown at their school was lifted. Afterward, they were bused back to campus.
Protests over delays in emergencies
The lockdown and protest by Desert Mirage High students came one day after 200 to 250 students from Coachella Valley High marched nearly four miles to the district's headquarters and raised similar concerns about safety and teacher compensation with Valentino, Board President Adonis Galarza-Toledo and Trustee Trinidad Arredondo.
Concerns among students and parents about CVUSD's crisis protocols have escalated throughout the school year.
During the November lockdown and evacuation of the Thermal schools, it took school administrators more than an hour to notify the sheriff's department that there could be a gun on campus.
For hours that day, neither the school district nor sheriff's department provided information to the public about why the evacuations were happening. Three parents told The Desert Sun they had not been contacted by the schools about the incident, but found out about the evacuations through word of mouth.
The following day, the district and the sheriff's department released different timelines of the events.
On Jan. 20, Coachella Valley High staff found a weapon in a student's backpack and notified law enforcement, but parents were not told that a weapon was found on campus for another six days.
On Tuesday, the district announced the lockdown on Facebook shortly after it began and posted twice more later, once about what caused the lockdown and again when it was lifted. Parents were also alerted via email at 10:57 a.m. that a student had handed over a loaded magazine to administrators, the sheriff's department was immediately notified and the campus was placed on lockdown. Throughout the lockdown, the district also responded to multiple parent comments on Facebook to say that no additional information could be shared due to the ongoing law enforcement investigation.
That incident — and an ongoing labor dispute between the district and the teachers union — has sparked the student marches and consumed two consecutive board meetings with dozens of calls from students and staff pleading with the district to improve security and pay.
"It's so scary how multiple times, students have brought guns or weapons to school and parents don't get notified until after the fact," Desert Mirage sophomore America Noriega told the Desert Sun after Tuesday's march.
"Change needs to happen," she said.
District spokesperson Lissette Santiago told the Desert Sun on Monday that CVUSD has taken steps to improve security at Coachella Valley High and other schools since Jan. 20, including:
Developing a comprehensive school safety plan that outlines procedures for dealing with potential threats and emergencies
Establishing a School Safety Committee that includes parents, staff and students to review and update the plan
Establishing a security team of staff and security personnel, with local law enforcement support, to monitor the school grounds
Updating security cameras
Expanding the use of a system for students, teachers and staff to report suspicous activity to administration and security personnel
Scheduling additional emergency response trainings and drills
Hiring two additional temporary campus security assistants
Updating bicycles for campus security assistants
Increased random canine unit school checks from once to twice per week
Santiago also listed mid- and long-term steps the district will consider, including:
Ongoing evaluation of the restorative justice model
Additional investments in student mental health services and staff
Additional safety and security trainings
An updated student lanyard policy
Reviewing the use of bus cameras
Securing school perimeters by replacing fences, as needed
Considering a transparent backpack policy
Considering construction of a new Coachella Valley High School
Possibly reconfigured student enrollment models across the district
Noriega said Tuesday that she is not satisfied with the district's actions to date.
"Once I see what (the district) has supposedly been working on and once I see that there are things in place to make us feel safer, then I'll know my fight is over," she said. "But until I get that, I'm not going to stop fighting for what we deserve."
Students stand by their teachers
High school students are also marching in solidarity with their teachers.
The teacher's union and the district have not come to terms on a cost of living adjustment in their next collective bargaining agreement. The union last week began a "work to rule" action, meaning some educators will not be doing any work outside of their contractual obligations.
Earlier this year, the board approved a significant raise for many school district management positions, but not the superintendent and assistant superintendents. Raises for administrators from the assistant principal to director level averaged around 10%.
The district has offered teachers an 8% cost of living adjustment that would make teacher salaries plus benefits higher than in nearby districts.
The union continues to push for a 10% COLA that would make base pay — before benefits are considered — higher than in Palm Springs Unified and Desert Sands Unified.
Gabriel Lopez, a Coachella Valley High senior who marched on Monday, said he won't be satisfied with the district until teachers get at least a 10% raise.
"My teachers have stepped up for me when I needed them, so I think it's time for students to do the same thing."
Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com. Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Thermal school campus lockdown follows student protests over safety
