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Schools

Sunflower Officials Remain Vigilant in Wake of Pit Bull Attack

Sunflower school safety plan addresses wide range of dangers.

The left a town shocked and school officials a little more vigilant.

According to Fonza, the dogs exited the property of on the 1600 block of Sunflower Avenue in the early morning hours and came face-to-face with him.

With the attacks occurring at 4 a.m., nobody, except for Fonza and , were out in the area.

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One of the dogs, which was struck by Fenner's police vehicle, limped to nearby school.

If the dogs were roaming just a few hours later, they could have encountered students, parents, even employees of the schools.

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"This was scary," said Lisa Raigosa, Sunflower Alternative Schools principal. "He [Fonza] was out there all by himself."

Sunflower is home to about 250 students and many faculty, staff and administrators.

With any number of scenarios that could endanger those at Sunflower, the school like all schools in the state, implements a safety plan.

The plan is a board-approved guide outlining how to execute safety measures.

The plan utilized by Sunflower is based on a template Charter Oak Unified School District uses to centralize emergency plans across the district. It covers reporting child abuse, gunmen and lock down scenarios, Raigosa points out, that could be used in the event of a dangerous dog entering campus.

In a lockdown procedure, students get down on the ground and keep all doors locked until an all clear is given.

Sunflower employees are also trained with the newly implemented All Call system, which distributes an automated message to staff.

"If there is anything a parent or student would be alarmed about, we have an Alert Now system," Raigosa said. The system sends a mass phone call to homes alerting parents of the situation.

Sunflower Alternative Schools usually has a few employees, mostly custodians, who arrive early in the morning.

"We talked to them and they agreed that they would be very cautious ... to look around and to make sure that they come pretty much at the same time so there's never anybody here alone," Raigosa said.

Sunflower also states employees can be on campus only at specific hours when there is adequate lighting and when more people are present.

"We feel really good about our system," Raigosa said. "We have a very alert staff. We all look out for each other."

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