500 Cell Phones to Boost Safety at High Schools

As a defense against campus violence, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department will soon distribute more than 500 cell phones to local high schools.

Principals and teachers will be able to use the phones to contact police or fire officials during an emergency, enabling the agencies to respond quickly.

The cell phones are the latest tool to prepare California schools for the unthinkable--such as a mass shooting similar to the one in Littleton, Colo., last April. The approach is part of a statewide initiative that will reach about 1,000 public high schools throughout California.

The phones, donated by AirTouch Cellular, have already been handed out to high school teachers in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Since the disaster at Columbine High School, campuses across Ventura County--and California--have taken aggressive measures to make schools safer for students and staff. They have hired more counselors and police officers, installed surveillance cameras, purchased metal detectors and enacted zero-tolerance policies for students who bring weapons to school.

Law enforcement personnel expect the cell phones to improve communication during school crises and to provide students with extra protection, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Harold Humphries, who is coordinating the program.

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“The mere fact that schools have these phones will make the students and staff feel more safe, because they will have immediate access to emergency personnel,” he said.

The specially programmed phones will only be able to dial 911 and local police or fire departments, and won’t be able to accept incoming calls. Some teachers have expressed concern that they won’t be able to use the cell phones to contact parents.

The number of phones each high school will receive depends on the student population, Humphries said. For example, a school with 2,000 students may get 15 phones, while a school that has 500 students may receive five.

Local administrators are excited about the wireless phones, which the Sheriff’s Department received Tuesday and plans to distribute next week.

“We are looking forward to getting them,” said Bill Studt, superintendent of the 14,000-student Oxnard Union High School District. “Any time you have a better way of communicating more quickly and efficiently, the better the chances are that a situation could be forestalled.”

Teachers in the all-high school district do not have phones in their classrooms. If there is an emergency, they contact the main office by intercom. Studt said he appreciates the donation, because the district could never have afforded to buy cell phones and pay for the service.

At Fillmore High School, there are phones in about every other classroom.

“It’s something we are looking forward to because we have such a huge, spread-out campus,” Principal John Wilber said.

Gov. Gray Davis initiated the “Safeguard Our Schools” pilot program shortly after two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves in Colorado. AirTouch Cellular donated the 10,000 phones and pledged to provide three years of service, at an estimated cost of $7 million to the company. The governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning will administer the program, and local police departments and AirTouch will train school staff on how to use the phones.

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Administrators say the cell phones could have a tremendous impact on how a violent incident is handled at school. Many districts are poorly equipped--some schools have only a few pay phones on campus or phones that are only available in the central office. In some cases, teachers on campus after school hours may not have access to an outside line.

In a time when more portable classrooms are popping up around the county, some teachers are often in remote areas of a school’s campus--a long walk from the phones in the office.

The cell phones will also assist school staff in case of an accident in the cafeteria or on the football field, or if a natural disaster causes a power outage.

Most principals haven’t decided how they will distribute the cell phones, but some plan to hand them out to teachers where students are more likely to face an emergency. For example, science or physical education teachers may be first in line to receive the phones.

Like many teachers these days, Buena High School’s athletic director Joe Vaughan has a personal cell phone, which he sometimes has to use for emergencies.

“There are many times--especially during football season--when you don’t have a phone nearby,” he said. “So it’s nice to know that I do have [a cell phone] because safety is a major concern for our students.”

And while Simi Valley High School has phones in its classrooms, Assistant Principal Barbara Hatton said administrators never know when they might need a communication alternative.

Having a cell phone available “will be great if we have an emergency where everything is cut off and we can’t use the phones,” she said. “You never know what the situation is going to be.”