By Olivia Doherty
School partnerships with police and communities are an important key to student safety for the Chicago public schools. "We try and do as much as we can to make sure that students get to and from school safely," said Mike Vaughn, a spokesman for the 438,000-student district. "Unfortunately, there are some neighborhoods where safety is a concern and there is a gang problem that affects our students." Kathie Carothers, the school safety director for the Chicago police department's Community Alternative Policing Strategy program, or CAPS, agrees.
Since 1993, CAPS, has recruited and directed "parent patrols" to monitor school perimeters before and after school hours. In addition, a "walking school bus" program run by CAPS uses volunteers to safely guide elementary students through dangerous areas, usually within eight blocks of a school, on their routes home. Still, problems occur.
On Sept. 16, a 15-year-old student was shot to death while waiting at a bus stop near Crane High School in the city. Gang members gunned down the teenager, who had no known gang affiliations, mistaking him for a member of a rival gang.
Following the incident, CAPS stepped up recruitment efforts for community members to patrol areas near the school. More than 3,000 volunteers are in place at most of the city's elementary schools, Ms. Carothers said. She said they are just starting to put volunteers in place near city high schools.
Police officers also watch over students throughout the school day, said Mary Beth Godinez, a school liaison officer for Chicago's 12th police district, which has jurisdiction over five high schools, including Crane. Two officers are assigned to each high school, and oftentimes a police car will stay outside of a school to establish a visible presence after dismissal, she said.
Two of the district's officers also operate a police car designated specifically for monitoring safety near, but not on, school grounds. That program has worked successfully with the surrounding neighborhoods for years, Ms. Godinez said. "So you know the kids, you know the teachers, you just know the community," she said.
In Illinois, "district liability, responsibility, begins from the point of loading a bus in the morning ... until the point where the student disembarks or leaves the bus at the end of the school day wherever they are dropped off," said Mark Wancket, the principal public information consultant for the Illinois state board of education.
While districts might seek additional insurance and coverage, he said, "by and large, that's where district responsibility would be." But for many states and districts, the lines of liability remain unclear and untested. Efforts to ensure student safety off school property could imply a sense of legal responsibility. But Mr. Stephens said that's not the case. "It would imply that schools have an interest in keeping it safe," he said. "There's a big difference between interest and responsibility."
