CV School Supe Tells Parents Not to Let Kids Watch Too Much Sandy Hook Coverage

Castro Valley Unified superintendent Jim Negri advises parents to limit how much coverage of the Sandy Hook massacre children watch. In a letter to parents, he also said the school district has conducted a drill with the county sheriff in the last year that simulated an intruder situation. Do you feel that Castro Valley schools are safe? 

Below is the full text of the letter: 

Dear Parents:

On behalf of the Castro Valley Unified School District Board of Education and staff, I would like to offer our prayers and thoughts to the victims and the families of the senseless school shooting in Connecticut this morning.

Upon learning of the shooting, I notified all principals so that they were aware of the tragedy and could work with their staff to support our students. We take our responsibility to keep our students safe very seriously. It is at the center of everything we do. We cannot educate our students without them being physically and emotionally safe.

This event will continue to attract endless news coverage. I would encourage you to limit your student's viewing of this event on the news, especially younger students and if you watch, to discuss this event with your student, it will be helpful to stress that such events are rare and that our schools have safety procedures in place. All our schools conduct routine emergency drills and have safety plans. In the past year, we conducted an intruder drill with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office to deal with a situation that we hope never occurs.

We will have counselors and psychologists available next week to support any student needing support to deal with this tragic event. I also encourage parents to speak with your children about the importance of alerting the appropriate authorities when they see something out of the ordinary at or near their school.

Please contact your principal if you have any questions or concerns. We continue to review our safety procedures to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

Thank you for your support.