Thursday, April 04, 2013

750 (or is it 400?) L.A. UNIFIED SECURITY AIDES HIRED SINCE NEWTON SCHOOL SHOOTING

2cents smf: see LAUSD ADDS 400 SECURITY AIDES @ ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢: By Barbara Jones, LA Daily News

The difference between 750 and 400 aides is pretty big, but not as big as the difference between uniformed full-time professional school police officers in the picture and the part time security aides the story is about!

By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/YV7557

crime

Los Angeles Unified School District Police Officers Alfred Navarro, left, and Luis Barraza keep an eye on students during lunch break at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times / December 11, 2002)

April 3, 2013, 3:30 p.m.  ::  The Los Angeles Unified School District has hired more than 750 of the 1,000 security aides it decided to employ after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

The aides, equipped with radios, keep watch during school hours, reporting potential threats and other problems to administrators, said district spokesman Tom Waldman.

In January, the district announced it would spend about $4 million to hire just over 1,000 aides. The move followed the shooting deaths of 20 first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary in December.

After the shooting, L.A. Unified's police force and law enforcement partners increased their presence and patrols around campuses to ease fear and anxiety. That additional presence has continued, Waldman said.

About 440 aides have been assigned to about 325 schools so far. An additional 320 have been hired but have not yet been screened and cleared to begin work. Those workers should be assigned to schools in coming weeks.

The district has more than 600 applicants for the remaining positions and hopes to fill the spots in coming months, Waldman said.

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