Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) has received the 2025 Golden Bell Award for Positive School Climate and Safety from the California School Boards Association (CSBA). The award was presented at CSBA’s Annual Education Conference in Sacramento earlier this month.
The district’s Re-Imagining School Safety program was recognized for its approach to enhancing student outcomes by shifting away from traditional school resource officer (SRO) models. In June 2020, after requests from community members, SCUSD ended contracts with police services for SROs and adopted a resolution to develop new safety strategies responsive to students and the community.
“The Golden Bell Award recognizes the exceptional work our district has done to enhance student outcomes,” said Jasjit Singh, SCUSD Board President. “Under the leadership of Ray Lozada, our Executive Director of Safe Schools, we’ve not only become a national leader in school safety strategies but also a model for other districts rethinking their safety protocols. Our efforts demonstrate that alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline are not just effective, but should be the gold standard in fostering a safer, more supportive environment for all students.”
Lisa Allen, Superintendent of Sacramento City Unified, noted the initial controversy surrounding the decision: “Moving away from an SRO safety model was highly controversial when it was first proposed back in 2020. The successes we have seen on our campuses over these last few years have been incredibly rewarding. I thank our Safe Schools Executive Director Ray Lozada and his team, along with our community organizations, parents, school administrators, and educators for collaborating to make safety a priority for our district.”
Currently, SCUSD assigns trained safety officers to schools and provides training for staff in conflict de-escalation techniques. The district collaborates with parents and community organizations to reduce reliance on local law enforcement except when necessary for addressing crimes or large events. All Safe Schools personnel receive training in threat assessment, non-violent crisis prevention and intervention, gang prevention, and understanding of the school-to-prison pipeline; these trainings are also available to community members.
The Golden Bell Award also acknowledges contributions from several individuals within SCUSD as well as three key community partners: Black Parallel School Board; Jackie Rose of Rose Family Creative Empowerment Center; and Greg King of Always Knocking.
The Golden Bell Awards program began in 1979 and is designed by CSBA to recognize excellence in education programs and governance practices among California’s school boards.
