Beyond Locks and Cameras: Westminster School District's Whole-Child Approach to School Safety
How a comprehensive system of supports, family partnerships, and student-centered strategies is helping Westminster School District (WSD) redefine what it means to create safe schools.
July 16, 2026
When conversations about school safety make headlines, they often focus on the visible measures districts put in place to protect students: secure campuses, emergency preparedness protocols, surveillance systems, and partnerships with law enforcement. Those elements remain important, and Westminster School District has invested significantly in creating secure learning environments throughout its 17 schools sites. However, WSD believes the discussion surrounding school safety should extend far beyond what can be seen at the front gate.
For WSD, safety begins long before an emergency occurs. It is reflected in the student who knows there is a trusted adult waiting to listen, the family who feels comfortable asking for assistance when challenges arise, and the counselor who can connect a child to resources before a small concern becomes a larger obstacle. It is built through daily interactions that strengthen relationships between students, staff, families, and the broader community.
That philosophy has shaped a districtwide effort to build a connected ecosystem of support. It is one that aligns student wellness, family engagement, attendance, community partnerships, prevention strategies, and academic success into a coordinated framework designed to help every child thrive.
Guided by the district's Strategic Plan and reinforced through its Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), WSD has spent years intentionally connecting programs, services, and supports that are often treated separately in educational systems.
“The safest schools are built on trust,” said Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen, Ph.D. “While secure campuses and emergency preparedness remain essential, we believe true safety is created through relationships, a sense of belonging, and strong partnerships with families. When families know they are supported and when entire communities work together, we create the conditions that allow every child to succeed and feel safe doing so.”That vision has become the foundation of a model that continues to evolve around WSD’s central belief: when schools address the needs of the whole child, students are more likely to feel safe, engaged, connected, and prepared for success both inside and outside the classroom.
Building a Safety Ecosystem Around Students and Families
The Westminster School District serves over 7,800 students Pre K-8 in Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Midway City and Westminster. While physical security remains an important component of district operations, leaders emphasize that the district's strongest safety practices are often the least visible. Behind every attendance initiative, counseling referral, family workshop, and student support program is a deliberate effort to strengthen the connections that help students succeed.
The district's work is anchored by its Community Schools framework, which serves as the organizational structure for bringing resources together around students and families. Built upon four pillars - integrated student support, family partnerships, expanded learning opportunities, and collaborative leadership - the framework helps schools function as centers of learning, support for families, and community engagement.
The framework recognizes a reality familiar to educators everywhere: students do not experience academic challenges separately from the other parts of their lives. Access to healthcare, food security, transportation, housing stability, mental health services, and family support systems can all influence a child's ability to engage in learning. By creating pathways that connect families to these resources, WSD is working to address barriers before they begin affecting student outcomes.
On any given day, a student may receive counseling support, participate in enrichment opportunities after school, engage with wellness services, or access targeted interventions through the district's Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). At the same time, their family may attend a workshop, visit a resource fair, seek assistance through a community program, or connect with staff members who can help navigate challenges that impact their child's education. While those services may appear separate from the outside, district leaders view them as interconnected elements of a larger strategy designed to strengthen student well-being and school connectedness.
Family Partnerships That Extend Beyond School Walls
Family engagement is often discussed as a best practice in education, but Westminster School District has elevated it into a central component of its safety strategy. District leaders believe that when families feel connected to their schools, students benefit from stronger support networks, more consistent communication, and increased opportunities for early intervention when challenges arise.
That belief is reflected in a wide variety of district programs designed to meet practical needs while building lasting relationships. Through initiatives such as the Helping Hands Pantry, Hope & Home Boutique, backpack distribution drives, seasonal assistance programs, enrollment events, family workshops, and community resource fairs, WSD works to ensure families can access the support they need with dignity and respect.
The impact of those efforts extends well beyond attendance at a single event. District initiatives have served thousands of families, distributed more than 62,000 pounds of food, provided approximately 1,800 backpacks filled with school supplies, and engaged hundreds of volunteers dedicated to supporting students and their families.
Behind those numbers are individual moments: a pantry visit that eases a difficult week, a backpack that helps a student start the year with confidence. Over time, those moments change how families see their relationship with schools: not just a place of instruction, but a place they know they can turn to.
"In Westminster, we've learned that school safety goes beyond physical security. It's also about building trust with families. When parents feel connected, informed, and supported, they're more likely to reach out when they need help, partner with the school, and stay engaged in their child's education. That connection helps students feel like they belong, and that's an important part of creating safe schools," said Elsie Briseño Simonovski, Ph.D., Director of Whole Child & Family Engagement.
The district has also emphasized building trust through accessible information and community outreach. Families can access immigration resources, translated materials, preparedness information, community based referral information, and educational workshops through the district's Immigration Resources webpage. These efforts are part of creating an environment where every family feels welcomed, informed, and connected to their school community.
Supporting the Whole Child Through Tiered Systems of Support
Westminster School District’s commitment to whole-child development is further reflected in its Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) which provides a framework for ensuring students receive support based on their individual needs. Rather than relying on one-size-fits-all interventions, the system allows schools to provide varying levels of assistance while maintaining a focus on prevention and early identification.
At the universal level, students benefit from schoolwide efforts that promote positive school climate, social-emotional learning, student connectedness, attendance awareness, wellness education, and supportive learning environments. These initiatives help create consistent experiences across campuses while reinforcing the district's commitment to belonging and engagement.
When students require additional support, targeted interventions may include counseling groups, attendance check-ins, mentoring opportunities, social-emotional supports, and individualized outreach. For students facing more significant challenges, schools can coordinate intensive services that include wraparound support, case management, individualized planning, training protocols for threat assessment procedures, mental health interventions, and partnerships with external agencies.
Those efforts are producing measurable results. District attendance increased from 95.43% to 95.7%, while the percentage of students maintaining attendance rates above 95% grew significantly. Students with 10 or more absences declined. The total amount of students with more than one absence dropped from 8,636 to 7,141, and the district recovered more than 2,000,000 instructional minutes compared to the previous year.
The significance of those gains extends beyond percentages and charts. More students are spending time in classrooms, participating in school activities, interacting with peers, and benefiting from direct instruction. Attendance improvements also suggest stronger student engagement and a growing sense of connection to school communities across the district.
Balancing Preparedness, Prevention, and Partnership
While Westminster School District’s approach places significant emphasis on relationships and prevention, district leaders have not lost sight of traditional safety responsibilities. Physical campus security, emergency preparedness, and coordinated response planning remain critical components of district operations. Every school site maintains security measures and protocols designed to support safe learning environments.
The district has also invested heavily in professional learning to ensure staff members are prepared to identify concerns and respond effectively when necessary. More than 80 employees, including counselors, school psychologists, specialists, administrators, and district leaders, have participated in coordinated threat assessment and response training through partnerships with the Orange County Department of Education, Orange County law enforcement agencies, and local safety partners.
Training efforts have included threat assessment practices, emergency operations, restorative approaches, trauma-informed strategies, behavioral supports, suicide prevention, and coordinated response procedures. Together, those investments help build capacity throughout the organization while reinforcing the district's commitment to prevention and early intervention. WSD's commitment to building capacity beyond district lines was on display this July, when WSD presented at the National Safe Schools Conference on Building Safer Schools Through Tiered Supports and Whole-Child Partnerships. The presentation gave district leaders the opportunity to share how collaboration with the Orange County Department of Education, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the Westminster Family Resource Center, and many other partners has strengthened WSD's approach to school safety and student support. It also offered a chance to learn from educators across the country who are working toward the same goal, reinforcing that the strongest safety strategies are built on relationships and consistent coordination, not on protocols alone.
Rather than concentrating safety expertise in a small number of individuals, Westminster has focused on equipping educators throughout the district with the knowledge and skills needed to recognize concerns, support students, engage families, and collaborate with partners when situations require additional attention.
A Model Built Around Students
Safe schools are not created by one program, one department, or one initiative alone. They emerge from the collective effort of educators, families, community partners, and students working toward the same goal.
That is the principle Westminster School District continues to build around: safety not as a separate initiative, but as something woven into every relationship, every support system, and every partnership that surrounds a child.
Melissa Duffey, the Westminster Council PTA President and mother of Anderson Elementary School students commented, “As a parent, nothing matters more than knowing my child is safe when they walk into school each morning. We trust our schools not only to educate our children, but also to protect them. WSD understands that school safety is about so much more than locked doors and emergency plans. It’s about creating an environment where every child feels physically safe, emotionally supported, and connected to caring adults. Seeing the district’s commitment to school safety reassures me that my child’s wellbeing is a priority every day, and I know that we’re partners in this shared responsibility.”
The work will keep evolving, but the standard stays the same. We strive to be the safest elementary school district in Orange County where every student feels safe enough to learn and supported enough to thrive.