THE SAFETY ZONE : Calculating School Security

Transparent backpacks. Plastic windows for lockers. Metal detectors. Gated campuses.

These are some of the safety measures returning with kids to school this fall in the wake of campus shootings, including the April massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., where two students shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives.

But Orange County educators are largely ignoring what some of them consider alarmist overreactions.

“We’re not going to acquiesce to the Fort Apache syndrome and turn our schools into prisons,” said Alan Trudell, spokesman for Garden Grove Unified School District.

“It can have the reverse effect of creating potential fear and concern,” added Julie Jennings, spokeswoman for Capistrano Unified School District.

Rather, Orange County schools are trying less radical solutions to improve school safety:

* Anaheim Union students will for the first time have access to a hotline to report students using drugs or carrying weapons, said Bob Montenegro, the district’s safe schools administrator.

* Oak Grove Elementary in Aliso Viejo will continue to stage “stranger on campus” drills during which teachers and students lock doors and windows to protect themselves in case of an emergency, Principal Kevin Rafferty said.

* At Santa Ana Unified, police officers have been assigned to oversee safety in intermediate schools.

There will be other changes too.

Students who enjoyed the freedom of “open” campuses in the past will return to “closed” school grounds where anyone other than school officials and students can expect to have their comings and goings monitored.

Many districts already take safety precautions, including having police officers on campuses, demanding dress codes in an attempt to curb gang activity, and employing a vast array of consulting services.

School leaders stress that the most effective way to deal with school violence is to prevent it. Many administrators applaud the use of aggressive intervention programs that step in when students begin acting differently, or fall in with a rough crowd.

Not everyone agrees with barricading schools. It does little to halt violence, critics say, and may inadvertently trigger it.

“It sends the wrong message,” said Jim Miyashiro, chief of school police at the Santa Ana school district.

Too much security undermines educator’s efforts to create a trusting and caring environment, officials say. And it threatens students’ academic performance too.

“Questions of security and safety do change the learning environment for kids,” Capistrano’s Jennings said. “Our students need to feel safe, and we have found there are other ways we can address safety.”

As a result, one of the big campuses changes this fall will involve better training for teachers and security staffers. They’ll be taught how to identify potentially dangerous behavior, such as watching out for hand signals that translate into gang signs. School officials also will take more visible roles on campus, something that might discourage violent outbreaks.

Educators also vow to keep parents informed about safety issues.

Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Assn., said ensuring student safety will involve more money.

He supported a law taking effect this year that requires all schools to have emergency plans in place. Sacramento lawmakers have promised to appropriate funds for it. There’s also a need for more campus counselors.

“Teachers tell me they can identify [troubled kids] as early as elementary school,” he said. “Some counseling programs could be very helpful in turning people around.”

Santa Ana Educators Assn. President Martha Correll hopes that the local district will spend money on more security officers in elementary schools and on walkie-talkies for teachers and staff.

Correll said she also supports training sessions that help teachers remain calm during stressful moments.

She recalled how one teacher panicked upon hearing that students boasted that they would duplicate the Columbine shootings. It turned out they weren’t serious. But the teacher felt she had “no room for understanding,” Correll said.

“We’re in pretty good shape, but we shouldn’t let our guard down,” she added.