Parents rose to the opportunity to speak their concerns over local schools safety during Wednesday night’s William S. Hart Union School governing board meeting.

Following the recent Saugus High shooting, a handful of false threats and jokes made in “poor taste” were investigated by Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies and detectives, according to parents.

Several officials from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, including Commander Robert Lewis, were present for the meeting. The officials were commended for their dedication to the Hart district during the Saugus shooting.

“Our six school resource officers provided exemplary service to the staff and students in this district, as a respondent to the tragic shooting at Saugus High School on Nov. 14,” said Hart Board Superintendent Vicki Engbrecht. “Arriving on the scene as first responders within minutes of the call, these dedicated officers went above and beyond to safely contain the scene, minimize additional trauma to students and staff, implement the orderly evacuation from the campus, as well as supervise the reunification process, allowing parents to reconnect with their children as quickly as possible.”

At Wednesday night’s Hart board meeting, parents used the public comments section to voice concerns and give possible solutions to these threats.

“I have a 16-year-old daughter, a junior at Saugus, and a 14-year-old son, a freshman at Saugus. I now have two teenagers who sleep with mom,” said Larry Alvarez, the first public commenter. “My 14-year-old cannot be left at home alone any more. He cringes at the sounds of sirens and helicopters… After 24 years of law enforcement, now retired, and another six years serving as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers, I should be the one to deal with issues of PTSD, not my 14- and 16-year-old children.”

Alvarez thanked the board and emergency officials for their response to the Saugus High shooting, but claimed more should have been done before, in a preventative fashion.

“I thank all of you for your support of Principal Ferry and his staff. The reaction to this horrible experience has been first class and top notch,” Alvarez said. “However, this has all been reactionary. I have seen nothing from the district as a prevention measure. As a parent, I expect to receive information (about) an increase (in) legitimate security measures, what discussions are occurring, what best practices are being discussed, explored or implemented; how did this happen, what is being done to prevent this from happening again, or are we back to open prey? That is not good enough for me. I know that I am not alone.”

Alvarez argued that more prevention measures need to be put in place in order for events like the Saugus High shooting to never be repeated. Not only would Alvarez like measures to be put in place, but he would like transparency from the district considering what discussions are being had regarding future actions in this nature, he said.

State Senator Scott Wilk, who was in attendance at the meeting, decided to speak in response to Alvarez’ comments.

“Obviously we need to do more — we agree that needs to be done — but this district has been proactive when it comes to these issues,” Wilk said. “As it began to unfurl that day, and just sitting at home, watching it, I was very impressed with the student response, and Principal Ferry and everyone else involved.”

Wilk defended the actions of the board, claiming the whole community had been through so much, no one should be berating the board members, while also agreeing that more can be done in the future.

“I was in a meeting with the state auditor back in 2017. She looked at what best practices should be for school campus safety,” Wilk said. “One thing she did, she read the Saugus High safety plan — 285 pages. She said it’s the most thorough plan she has seen for a school.”

Then addressing the board directly, Wilk continued, “So yes, there’s more we need to do… You had been proactive on this issue. You do care about these kids. But I don’t think anybody should be here beating you up. I think under the constraints you had both budgetary and from Sacramento, I think you did an outstanding job.”

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