Oxnard School District STOP School Violence Prevention Program

Oxnard School District (OSD) submits this application for BJA’s STOP School Violence Prevention Program Grant, a high-quality program designed to improve K-12 school safety by reducing school violence and ensuring a positive school climate. OSD’s K-12 enrollment for the 2023-24 school year was 13,399 students. The district includes twenty (20) school sites: ten (10) K-5 schools, seven (7) K-8 schools, and three (3) middle schools serving grades 6 – 8. Established in 1873, OSD is located in Oxnard, California, the largest city in Ventura County. The district serves high-need students, which we identify as minority and high-poverty students. All OSD schools will receive STOP grant services. At OSD 88.6% of students receive Free and Reduced Priced Meals compared to 54.9% for the county and 61.7% for the state. OSD’s STOP request is aligned with five purpose areas: 1) Implementing school safety technology; 2) Enhancing multi-disciplinary behavioral threat assessment teams; 3) Training school personnel and educating students on preventing school violence; 4) Conducting specialized training for law enforcement who work in schools and with a school-age population; and 5) Hiring school personnel to directly support the prevention of school violence. All of the programs, training, and activities proposed in our STOP project are evidence-based, comprehensive, and designed to meet the individual needs of our staff, students and community. OSD is seeking consideration under Priority 1A. Our proposed STOP project meaningfully addresses the identified inequities (see Section 1) and contributes to greater access to services and opportunities for our community that has been historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization. OSD has designed a management plan to achieve all the objectives of the proposed program on time and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities of staff, community partners, and contracted service providers. OSD’s application includes resumes for key personnel, a project timeline, and a Memorandum of Understanding with community partners. OSD’s overarching objective is to improve security at OSD school sites by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence and ensure a positive school climate. The related goals, objectives, and specific outcomes are included in the narrative section of the application.