RBUSD focuses on safety, Kauffman honored
RBPD Chief Keith Kauffman kisses his 2018 Education Advocate of the Year award. Photo
The focus of this year’s Redondo Beach State of Education event was school security and safety, so it makes sense that the night’s most sensitive information was kept a secret even to the city’s top cop.
Redondo Beach Police Chief Keith Kauffman was named the 2018 Education Advocate of the Year by the Redondo Beach Partners In Education, taking the chief by complete surprise.
“I’ve never had as positive a relationship with a police department in my entire life,” Redondo Beach Unified School District Superintendent Steven Keller said. “He’s someone who came in and transformed how we look at safety from both a proactive and reactive standpoint.”
Teachers, Keller said during his presentation, get into the teaching business to teach kids.
“That’s our bread and butter…we never got into safety like we do today,” Keller said. “But we’re getting better every year. We’re getting trained and we’re admitting we need to be ready.”
The old school of thought was to keep campuses closed. Today, RBUSD is building synergy between schools and the community.
But barriers are still being erected, Keller said. In the past five years RBUSD has put up more than two miles of wrought iron fencing to replace chain-link, and the district’s middle schools have built centralized entry points to limit outside access.
Safety has become a key portion of new-hire interviews and most all district staff have agreed to be trained to respond in “uncomfortable situations,” as with Run, Hide, Fight scenarios.
RHF training was introduced to RBUSD shortly after Kauffman was hired by Redondo Beach in 2015. The philosophy is simple: In case of emergency, teachers need to get kids running out of the danger area as fast as possible; if they have to hide, to barricade entrances; and if all else fails, to fight.
“I want our district and our kids to have the best chance and to be able to respond appropriately,” Kauffman said.
That includes more RBPD school resource officer positions, as well as 500 trauma kits distributed to RBUSD schools, in partnership with the LA Kings. Redondo teachers have undergone RBPD-led training to use the tourniquets, splints, and dressings in the kits in case of a medical emergency.
RBUSD has also made efforts to keep on top of technology while students grow up as “digital natives,” Chief Technology Officer Derek Kinsey said. Kinsey explained that the district is asking parents to participate by discussing proper online etiquette and using Titan HST, a phone application that connects parents to their children’s schools for emergency updates.
The district has also established preventative safety measures by focusing on student well-being, said RBUSD Student Services Director Nicole Wesley.
“Your student has the tools to help them cope and be resilient…ask them how they talk to an adult, or how to resolve conflicts, or what empathy is. This is what we’re talking to our students about regularly,” Wesley said. “When your students do have an issue, hopefully with the skills we’ve given them they will turn to somebody on campus or at home to ask for help.”