Review of Violence Prevention at the Te Tsu Geh Oweenge Day School

We conducted an inspection of the Te Tsu Geh Oweenge Day School, located on the Pueblo of Tesuque in Santa Fe, NM, to determine the quality of safety measures in place to prevent violence against students and staff from internal and external threats. We found Te Tsu Geh Owenge Day School’s safety measures to be inadequate. 

 

Specifically, Te Tsu Geh Oweenge Day School did not have a comprehensive emergency plan. In addition, while the school successfully ran an evacuation drill during our visit on May 21, 2014, school officials felt it would be unsafe for staff and students to perform a lock-down drill since it had not been practiced. Conversely, training on violence prevention and emergency preparedness was provided to both staff and students.

 

Further, of the 18 safety measures we checked for, Te Tsu Geh Oweenge Day School did not have 10 in place. While no single safety measure is so critical that its absence at an educational facility is cause for immediate concern, we found that the more safety measures not in place, the less prepared the school is to respond to an incident. 

 

We provide six recommendations to help Te Tsu Geh Oweenge Day School improve its safety measures. Also, we recently learned that the school has begun making a number of improvements since our visit last year.