The district serving Sacramento Schools is 150 years old. The start of Sacramento’s school system was February 20, 1854, and began on the corner of 5th and K Streets. There were two teachers, one male and one female, to teach approximately 50 boys and 40 girls aged seven through nine. Because of the new constitution for California written in 1849, which included guaranteed funding for public education and an elected superintendent, the Sacramento Public Schools were able to open. Sacramento High School, which opened in 1856, is the second oldest high school west of the Mississippi. The first kindergarten began in 1895.
Over the years, attendance at Sacramento Schools grew and grew. Now among the 10 largest school districts in California, Sacramento Schools serve around 50,000 K-12 students, and 20,000 adult education students. 3,000 teachers and 3,000 non-classified teaching employees work for the school. (Non-classified employees do clerical/technical, maintenance, classroom support, nutrition, and transportation work.)
An interesting turn of events occurred in Sacramento in the summer of 2007. In an effort to protect the campuses, district officials and local law enforcement turned to the public to keep an eye on the unoccupied schools over the summer. The weekends surrounding the Fourth of July were the particular dates that they asked neighbors and community members to keep an eye on schools.
Apparently, in years past, the 4th of July has brought on a rash of fires and vandalism to Sacramento Schools. The celebrations that are held on Independence day is a particularly dangerous time of the year for Sacramento Schools. Not only are they unoccupied, but they are at greater risk from fire and arson, resulting from careless or even malicious use of fireworks. Sacramento Schools have spent literally thousands of dollars after the July 4th holiday to clean up and repair the damage done by vandals and fireworks to Sacramento Schools campuses.
Neighbors of the schools and business owners have been asked to call the city police or sheriff’s department if they notice anyone vandalizing Sacramento Schools property. They also want to know if anyone is seen on a campus with lighters, matches or fireworks. In addition, the police department stepped up the patrols around Sacramento Schools in an attempt to discourage would-be vandals from attacking the schools.
It is interesting to see that the police and the leaders of Sacramento Schools are utilizing the community’s help in this manner. Community involvement in the schools typically takes the form of donations of time, money, and supplies. How nice for the community to be able to simply use themselves – more specifically their eyes and ears – to help look out for their neighborhood Sacramento Schools.
It is unknown, at the time this article was written, if the increased police presence and the vigilance of neighbors and business owners helped to discourage the fires and vandalism that had occurred in years past.