Parents urge Oakdale Joint Unified to speed up threat notifications after recent alerts

At the Oakdale Joint Unified School District board meeting, parent Caitlyn Drer said she received delayed notice about a threat to Cloverland Elementary and urged the district to let parents decide whether to keep children home.

"I should be able to make a decision for my children," Caitlyn Drer said, describing that she first learned about the most recent threat only after checking email during the day. She said OPD (Oakdale Police Department) had been notified the previous evening and asked why parents were not told sooner.

Another speaker, Brandon Jones, argued the district should treat every threat seriously and expand earlier notification to reach parents when they are available. "These threats cannot be credible or noncredible — they all got to be credible," Jones said, arguing that prior warnings often occur at night and parents need time to respond.

Board President asked "Mr. M" from administration to follow up with site administrators and address the communication concern. Trustees also directed staff to place a discussion of district protocols for credible threats on a future agenda to clarify whether protocols are uniform across sites.

The comments came during the public comment portion of the meeting; the board did not take immediate action but committed to a follow-up from administration and a future agenda item to examine notification timing and procedures.

What happens next: The board requested administration report back on protocols and communications; the meeting record shows a trustee specifically asked that the district clarify whether sites follow a single, districtwide protocol for threat notifications.