Litchfield Elementary reports creation of site safety teams, ADE-aligned emergency plans and Title IX prevention roadshows

Litchfield Elementary School District officials on Tuesday told the governing board they have established safety teams at every campus, adopted the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) emergency operating template, completed two CPTED assessments and expanded preventive student education to address harassment and misconduct.

Thomas Foster de Oro, the district director of school safety, described six safety goals the department set for the prior year and reported completion or near-completion on those items, including the formation of a school safety team on each site and initial ADE-template emergency operating plans.

"By the start of this year, everybody is on this ADE template of 2024," Foster de Oro said, explaining that adopting a consistent template helps the district align with statewide expectations and audits. He said sites used the ADE school-safety template to self-identify the top three on-site priorities and that functional annexes and other sections remain in development.

Foster de Oro said the district received an award for 11 School Safety Officer (SSO) positions through the ADE mini-grant and that the district plans to apply this fall for a COPS (U.S. Department of Justice) grant to fund additional camera infrastructure; he said officials expect an application outcome around Oct. 30. The district also rolled out Syntegix visitor-management and crisis-alert systems this year and plans to expand Syntegix for staff check-in and badge use.

Security reviews completed this summer included two CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) assessments — of the Support Services Center and Western Sky Middle School — and the district said it has scheduled CPTED reviews for all campuses by year-end. Foster de Oro said district staff are coordinating potential bond and grant spending priorities to fund cameras, secured front offices and radio communications.

District Title IX coordinator Maria Fletcher presented data on reports the district received in the most recent school year. Fletcher said the district recorded 333 possible Title IX-related complaints; of those, 145 met the Title IX threshold for district-level review and 188 were referred back to the school for investigation under the student handbook or employee policies. Of the 145 that met the threshold, Fletcher said 9 formal Title IX complaints were filed, 1 case was resolved via informal resolution and 7 complaints were dismissed during the process.

Fletcher described a preventive "safety roadshow" developed with Touchstone and local law enforcement that presents age-appropriate lessons on boundaries, consent and healthy relationships. The inaugural roadshows, which began in January 2025 at Bella Soda Elementary and later reached several other campuses (including Barbara Roby, Dreaming Summit and Corte Sierra elementary schools), were designed to reduce behaviors that can escalate into Title IX complaints, Fletcher said. Schools that hosted the presentations reported reductions in inappropriate behaviors, according to Fletcher.

Fletcher described a two-part rollout this year: Part 1 (underway) delivers Touchstone-led presentations for sixth- and seventh-graders on boundaries, consent and healthy relationships and promotes the after‑school TOPS program; Part 2 will be delivered by the district safety team and partners and will focus on bullying, social-media threats, intimidation, aggression and the disciplinary consequences in the student handbook. She said parent consent forms are required for the student presentations.

Board members praised the staffing and the preventive efforts. President Zaidema thanked the board for approving the positions that allow the district to hire safety and compliance personnel. "Students can't learn if they don't feel safe," Dr. Davidson said, praising the two staff members who gave the update.

No formal board action was recorded on the safety presentation; the board asked for invitations to upcoming safety roadshows and for continued updates on grant outcomes and CPTED findings.

Sources: presentation to the Litchfield Elementary School District Governing Board, Aug. 12, 2025.