News Update

Safety plan improves attendance, academics at San Jose high school

A new school safety plan at Willow Glen High School in San Jose has increased attendance and resulted in fewer students who are tardy to class and more students on track to graduate, according to the San Jose Spotlight.

The school site council adopted the safety plan after a series of  incidents in San Jose Unified schools last year, including the arrest of a student who came on the Willow Glen campus with a loaded gun and knife. Earlier last year, a student at Herbert Hoover Middle School was found with a loaded firearm, and a student from Abraham Lincoln High School was arrested for making threats on social media to shoot classmates with an assault rifle, according to the news article.

The Willow Glen safety plan calls for students to be supervised at all times, removes gaps in students’ schedules, requires passes for students to leave classes and requires parents to check students out of school if they need to leave. Administrators patrol the campus and check security cameras often.

Since the safety plan was put in place, attendance has increased 22.4%, tardiness has decreased 56%, and the number of seniors on track to graduate has increased by 33%, according to the council.