Keeping students safe is not the work of one person, one program, or one funding source. It is a shared commitment that requires all of us. Families, educators, law enforcement, community partners, staff, and taxpayers each play an important role in creating schools where children feel safe and supported. At Cottonwood Oak Creek School District (COCSD), we are strengthening that commitment by investing in the people who care for our students, prevention and early intervention, open communication, strong community partnerships, and safe, reliable campuses. Because when it comes to the safety of our children, every layer matters and every one of us has a role.

This year, COCSD was awarded funding through the Arizona Department of Education’s School Safety Program Grant, a competitive state funded program established under Arizona Revised Statute §15 154. The program supports school safety personnel and student support professionals on Arizona campuses.

Through this funding, Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary, Cottonwood Community School, and Mountain View Preparatory School each have a School Safety Officer. These certified law enforcement officers, affiliated with local law enforcement agencies, will help maintain safe campuses while building positive relationships with students, staff, and families. We want our students to know the officers serving their schools not simply as people who respond when something goes wrong, but as trusted adults, mentors, educators, and partners in prevention.

At Oak Creek Elementary and Verde Tech High School, the grant will support dedicated school counselors who provide academic, behavioral, and student wellness support, helping students address challenges that may interfere with their ability to be successful in the classroom.

Across the district, these counselors are part of a broader system of student support, with interventions designed to meet the unique needs of each campus. Focus Zone Coordinators continue working at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary, Mountain View Preparatory, and Cottonwood Community School. Focus Zones serve as an intervention designed to help students develop the self regulation skills needed to be successful in the classroom. Coordinators provide students with a structured, supportive space to regulate emotions and behavior, practice coping and problem solving strategies, and prepare to successfully return to classroom instruction. The goal is to intervene early and provide timely support, typically within a 20 minute period, reducing disruptions to learning while helping students build skills that support long term success in the classroom.

Verde Tech is also supported by a Prevention Specialist funded through AZ Complete Health of Arizona as part of the State Opioid Response (SOR IV) Grant. Together, these supports provide additional layers of prevention and intervention based on the needs of students at each school.

Together, these professionals represent an important part of our approach to safety: prevention, relationships, early intervention, and connection.

Whisper Watch Anonymous Reporting

Another important component of school safety is making sure students, parents, staff, and community members have a way to share concerns. Schools can only investigate, respond, and intervene when they are made aware that something has occurred. Reporting concerns, even when an incident may have already happened or seems minor, provides school staff with the information needed to take appropriate action, identify patterns, address potential gaps, and help prevent similar situations from occurring again.

COCSD is expanding the use of Whisper Watch, our anonymous reporting resource found on the district webpage. We are working toward providing each campus with its own reporting pathway so concerns can be directed appropriately and addressed as quickly as possible. When concerns are reported, schools have an opportunity to investigate what occurred and determine what additional supervision, intervention, support, or other action may be needed.

Anonymous reporting provides another avenue for individuals who may be uncomfortable speaking directly with an adult. However, it works best when paired with strong relationships. We continue encouraging students to talk with parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, School Safety Officers, and other trusted adults whenever something does not feel right. No concern is too small to share. Information that may seem insignificant on its own can sometimes help school staff understand a larger situation or recognize an issue that otherwise would have remained unknown.

Parents and community members are essential partners in this effort. School safety begins long before an emergency occurs. It happens when adults notice changes in behavior, when students feel comfortable asking for help, when families report concerns, and when schools and community agencies work together rather than in isolation. Open communication gives schools the opportunity to respond, intervene, and continually strengthen the systems designed to keep students safe.

Proposition 409 and the Physical Side of School Safety

People and relationships are essential, but safe schools also require safe, reliable facilities.

That is one reason the COCSD Governing Board has called a $30 million capital bond election, Proposition 409, for November 3, 2026. The district's bond fact sheet identifies aging infrastructure, including water line breaks, septic and well related failures, aging HVAC systems, and other infrastructure and safety concerns affecting our schools and support facilities.

It is important for our community to understand how school facilities are funded in Arizona and what a capital bond can and cannot do.

Arizona provides state funding for certain school facility needs through the Arizona Department of Administration School Facilities Division. Districts may apply for Building Renewal Grants for qualifying major repairs, building systems, and infrastructure projects. These grants are intended to help schools maintain minimum facility adequacy standards and are subject to state eligibility and approval requirements.

COCSD has actively pursued this funding and has received approximately $1.2 million through the School Facilities Division for qualifying facility projects in recent years. These state dollars have allowed the district to complete important repairs and improvements and demonstrate our commitment to using available state resources whenever possible. However, the state program does not fund every facility need or locally identified capital priority.

Local school districts may therefore seek voter approved bonds to address additional capital priorities. Bond funds may only be used for voter approved capital purposes and cannot be used for salaries or everyday operating expenses.

Proposition 409 identifies projects across district facilities that include safe and secure entry access, public address systems, classroom updates, network infrastructure, sidewalk safety improvements, parking and asphalt work, interior and exterior lighting, HVAC systems, roofing, water systems, wells and pumps, and septic systems. The proposal also includes two buses and $1 million for Science of Reading curricular updates.

The estimated tax rate associated with Proposition 409 is $0.43 per $100 of net assessed valuation. For a residential property with an assessed property value of $100,000, the estimated cost is approximately $43 per year, or $3.58 per month. The actual cost will vary depending on the property's assessed value.

As a public school district, our responsibility is to provide voters with clear, factual information about Proposition 409 so each community member has the information needed to make an informed decision.

Strong Schools, Strong Community

No single grant, bond, security system, counselor, or School Safety Officer can create a safe school. Safety is not one program or one person. It is a culture built by all of us.

Safety is strongest when we combine secure and reliable facilities with trained professionals, prevention programs, attentive families, engaged community partners, and students who know that trusted adults are ready to listen.

As Superintendent, I believe there is no greater responsibility than creating schools where every child feels safe, supported, and ready to learn. When students feel secure, they can focus on what they come to us to do: learn, grow, discover who they are, recognize their strengths, and build the foundation for their future.

To our families, law enforcement partners, community organizations, employees, taxpayers, and neighbors, thank you for being partners in that work.

Our goal is simple, but significant. Every child, on every COCSD campus, should walk through our school doors knowing they are safe, supported, valued, and surrounded by adults and a community committed to their well being and success.

The strength of our schools reaches far beyond the walls of our classrooms. Strong schools help build strong communities. They prepare the young people who will become our future workforce, leaders, parents, volunteers, and neighbors. When a community invests its time, attention, resources, and partnerships in its schools, that investment comes back through young people who are prepared to learn, contribute, and build a future right here in the community that helped raise them.

That is why school safety is a shared commitment. It is built through safe facilities, strong relationships, engaged families, trusted community partnerships, and the willingness to speak up when something does not seem right.

When our schools, families, law enforcement, community partners, and neighbors work together, we create more than safe campuses. We strengthen the community around them and create places where students feel secure enough to learn, confident enough to ask for help, and supported enough to thrive.

Strong schools help build strong communities, and safe schools are the foundation that makes both possible.