Sweetwater's new safety school

GETTING OUT IN FRONT OF THE STORY, CHULA VISTA — "Let's clear something up at the outset," said District Superintendent Harry Mudd at the outset of his press conference. "We are all about keeping kids safe and giving them room to learn. This move accomplishes both of those goals. If evildoers couldn't break out, then they won't be able to break in. And the place is simply huge.

"Now, the District understands that there will be comparisons made here to San Diego Unified's decision to accept a mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle from the Department of Defense last month. Yes, they ultimately returned the vehicle, because of community concerns that it contributed to the so-called 'militarization' of the school system.

"I should note that Miss Baker's third-grade class at Florence Nightingale Elementary in Linda Vista was particularly disappointed by this decision, as they had won a schoolwide contest to determine the class that would be loaded into the vehicle and rescued in the event of a school shooting. Those kids sold an awful lot of baked goods, but all the cookies and pies in the world won't help them now. Not if some psycho starts shooting up the place. Anyway. Yes, they returned the MRAP, new paint job and all. But this is totally different.

"In no way does the acceptance of the former Chula Vista State Penitentiary contribute to the 'prisonification' of our school system. We did extensive polling of our student body, and their unanimous claim was that school couldn't possibly be any more like prison than it already is."