United Parents of Culver City School Safety Forum Tonight

As Patch mentioned in an earlier post, the United Parents of Culver City will sponsor a school safety forum on Jan. 23, to help address and discuss school safety following the recent tragic events at

UPCC now has a venue for the forum: The Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and the event will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. tonight -  Wed. Jan. 23.

Among those that will be participating are Culver City Unified School District Superintendent Dave LaRose, Culver City Police Chief Donald Pedersen, Mayor Andy Weissman, members of the Culver City Council, Culver City School Board President Kathy Paspalis and other members of the school board, and other special guests. 

According to a release by UPCC, the goal of the forum is “to seek a meaningful dialogue between parents, the community, the District and the City about school safety and how CCUSD handles emergencies.”

UPCC Chair of the Student Well Being Team, Laura Jane Kessner, will moderate the forum.

Parents and community members are invited to RSVP for the free community forum, suggest topics that they would like to see on the agenda, and identify questions that are important to them on the United Parents of Culver City website: http://www.UnitedParentsCulverCity.com/safety. 

Some recent parent-suggested topics Include:

• Are we adequately controlling access to our campuses?
• Should we invest in panic buttons for every classroom & office?
• How does our school district handle emergencies?
• How can we make our schools safer?
• How are we addressing mental health issues in our student population?
• Are mental health issues tied to safety & if so, what can we do about it?
• What measures will or should be taken to prepare for post traumatic stress in the event of an emergency? (Earthquake, terrorism, etc.)
• What are the available resources to students & families?
• Is an anti-bullying campaign enough? Is it working?

Superintendent LaRose has been addressing some of these questions directly in responses that Patch has posted here and here. Tonight's meeting will expand on some of these issues.

For more information about United Parents of Culver City, please visit: UnitedParentsCulverCity.com

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