{"id":105203,"date":"2025-12-22T19:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/105203\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:09:11","slug":"after-school-shooting-skyline-community-explores-new-safety-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/105203\/","title":{"rendered":"After school shooting, Skyline community explores new safety ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A month after a shooting at Skyline High School injured one student and saw two other minors arrested, students and parents want more campus safeguards, but with more focus on a positive campus culture and less on punitive measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oakland Hills campus already has some safety precautions, like additional fencing around the campus perimeter, security guards, and violence prevention workers<\/a>. But with $100 million in district budget cuts<\/a> on the horizon \u2014 including up to 10% at school sites<\/a> \u2014 parents and students worry that fewer investments in safety could drive families away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply concerned about what lies ahead for Skyline, particularly in the wake of last month\u2019s on-campus student shooting,\u201d Tatsu Yamoto, a parent of a freshman at Skyline, said at a recent school board meeting. \u201cPlease ensure that funding continues for violence interrupters, staff training on safety and discipline practices, mental health services and security measures. Failing to turn this situation around \u2026 will contribute to an exodus of both students and teachers from the school and make the financial situation even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Nov. 12, Oakland police received reports of a shooting at Skyline and located a student who had been shot in a bathroom. The school went into a lockdown, and police arrested two minors and recovered two guns. The district\u2019s communication on the day of the incident ignited criticism from parents about the lack of transparency. In the initial alert that went out to the school community, the message said a \u201cmedical emergency\u201d had occurred on campus, without any mention of weapons or a shooting.<\/p>\n

Nelson Alegria, the executive director of safety for Oakland Unified School District, acknowledged that communication that day could have been better. He said school leaders tried to share enough detailed information promptly without alarming people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first problem was [that] the message was delayed and it was not giving parents and the community the most amount of information,\u201d Alegria told The Oaklandside. \u201cGoing forward, I think we are aiming to be more truthful about what is going on, to the best of our knowledge.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alegria added that OUSD demonstrated that commitment the following week, when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended a man<\/a> outside Hoover Elementary School in West Oakland. In a message to the community shortly after, OUSD said I.C.E. was spotted in the neighborhood, students were safe, and Hoover was on a \u201csecure school protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking another look at campus safety and security <\/p>\n

In the weeks since the shooting, Skyline\u2019s approach has been two-fold: strengthening safety protocols and encouraging a culture of accountability. Adding more fencing around the hillside campus was already underway (and at schools across the district), and is expected to be completed in the new year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fences will help with supervision and can allow certain areas of campus to be closed off, said Principal Rebecca Huang. It will also enable a single entry point onto the campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025.10.08_Middleton_SkylineViolenceInterrupter_19\"\/Students sit outside Skyline High School on Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Florence Middleton for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"2025.10.08_Middleton_SkylineViolenceInterrupter_08\"\/A sign posted on a student bulletin board at Skyline High School in Oakland on Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Florence Middleton for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a front gate, which is great, but cars can come up and then access the campus from many different walking pedestrian points,\u201d Huang told The Oaklandside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The school has also tightened its bathroom policies after the on-campus shooting. Students must now show their identification badges before entering the bathroom during class periods, and they must sign in and out of class on paper in addition to the digital passes that teachers are required to give.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re adding extra layers of accountability on everyone\u2019s part: teachers\u2019 part, students\u2019 part, and the supervision team\u2019s part,\u201d Huang said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the shooting, a Skyline parent created and shared a survey with other school parents to get their ideas on various safety precautions, like clear backpacks, bag checks, metal detectors and wanding when students arrive to school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preliminary results, which parents presented to school and district leadership earlier this month, showed a wide range of opinions, with little consensus on specific measures.\u00a0Parents are hoping to get input from more families in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want more of the resources that the school is currently doing and an investigation into what happened,\u201d said Laura Blair, the parent of a ninth grade student. \u201cThere\u2019s some feelings of concern around over-policing students. [What we\u2019re seeking is] more in the realm of creating accountability systems with staffing versus adding metal detectors, fencing, or random searches.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was clear from the survey, Alegria said, is that parents want to see more transparency and accountability from school leaders and an effort to create a culture at Skyline that prevents violence before conflict boils over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want things that are more focused on the culture building, being involved at the school site, listening to student voice,\u201d Alegria said. \u201cIt was all about, how do we build that community at Skyline? And not just immediately go to searching backpacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some students and parents are worried that the negative attention could hurt Skyline\u2019s reputation, especially since it\u2019s enrollment season and families right now are making decisions about where to send their kids in the fall of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the diversity of our campus makes it unique and a better experience than a lot of other schools,\u201d said Ruby Wooliever, a ninth grader. \u201cInstead of short-term solutions, there should be more long-term solutions. I feel like that hasn\u2019t been apparent with what officials have been saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huang, the school principal, said her ultimate goal is to create a culture where students feel comfortable going to an adult with a concern they have before conflict erupts. Whether it\u2019s the assistant principal, a counselor, case manager, a culture keeper, or a teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that there\u2019s still work to do, but we\u2019re confident that everybody who\u2019s here loves being here,\u201d Huang said. \u201cWe feel that really loud and strong from our parents that have shown up time and time again, to our students that show up and still love Skyline, and our alumni who write us about wanting to support and wanting to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skyline students step up to lead conversations on school safety<\/p>\n

Following a community town hall the week after the shooting, the school has held community circles in the evenings and during the school day, led by students, on topics like discipline, conflict, and fights. Another town hall is scheduled for January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students who spoke to The Oaklandside said they\u2019d like to see more staff who can provide mental health support for students and training for the school\u2019s seven culture and climate keepers, whose priority is to build relationships with students and mediate conflicts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025.10.08_Middleton_SkylineViolenceInterrupter_17\"\/Carla Ashford, Skyline\u2019s violence interrupter, speaks with two students at risk of fighting with another group of students at Skyline High School in Oakland on Oct. 8, 2025. Funding for positions like Ashford\u2019s runs out at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Credit: Florence Middleton for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also about the home life,\u201d said Zoe Schoen, a freshman. \u201cIf they can check in on families at home, if the kids are acting up, and have in-person meetings with them and check if they\u2019re okay.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sydney Lee, another freshman, added that emphasizing consequences for students could make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that a police officer should come to the school and genuinely talk to the students about the consequences that actions like that can have on people\u2019s lives,\u201d she told The Oaklandside. \u201cBecause not only was a student injured, two kids are getting put on trial and their lives are on a completely different trajectory than the one they were on before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students also want to see leadership held accountable, and expressed disappointment that the school board director representing Skyline, Valarie Bachelor, missed the Nov. 20 town hall. The meeting was scheduled on the same date as the school board\u2019s monthly facilities meeting, a committee Bachelor chairs. Bachelor told The Oaklandside she learned about the town hall too late to cancel the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

School board director Valerie Bachelor responds to criticisms, shares her priorities<\/p>\n

At the Dec. 10 school board meeting, Bachelor apologized to the community and said her absence was unacceptable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy inaction has not meant I have not meant I have not been working hard on the challenges you\u2019ve shared and faced,\u201d Bachelor said. \u201cI have been working diligently to see what we can do to continue to support the violence interruption work the city has done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bachelor told The Oaklandside that, in hindsight, she would\u2019ve worked with school staff to schedule a meeting that not only she could attend, but also Kevin Jenkins, the councilmember representing Skyline\u2019s district on the city council, and Mayor Barbara Lee. Bachelor is also planning to meet with the school PTA in January.<\/p>\n

Bachelor said her priority has been trying to get a meeting with Lee to convey the importance of continuing funding for the violence prevention teams in OUSD high schools, which are supported by the city\u2019s Department of Violence Prevention. That funding runs out<\/a> at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGun violence is a citywide issue. It\u2019s not something that as a school district we can hold on our own,\u201d Bachelor told The Oaklandside. \u201cI think it\u2019s important that we have a citywide discussion around what that means and what are some of the shared resources we can have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"20251118_SkylineWalkOut_15\"\/Student protesters stand in the parking lot of a Safeway shopping center after hundreds walked out of Skyline High School to protest gun violence in the aftermath of a school shooting. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

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