Clark County high school graduate joins ranks of school security after witnessing attack on teacher
LAS VEGAS, Nev. July 26 2022 At Clark County School District’s Eldorado High School in April, a teacher was violently attacked and strangled in her own classroom, according to police. A 16-year-old student was charged with attempted murder and sexual assault of his teacher.
That vicious assault sent shockwaves through the community of staff and students of the east Las Vegas school. Now, one young man who graduated from the same school wants to make sure that something like that never happens again on a CCSD campus.
The young man, Omaree Van-Dyke, was a senior at Eldorado when the crime happened. He said he is now taking it upon himself to help fulfill a shortage in the district for campus security monitors.
“I still, to this day, think about what that teacher had to go through,” said Van-Dyke. “A lot of us were like, ‘Wow. We can’t believe it happened.’ It was tragic. All my friends were impacted by it, everybody was impacted… But even though it happened, a lot of us were able to come together.”
First, the Eldorado students came together by protesting in front of their school for campus safety.
“To make [our] voices heard,” Van-Dyke told FOX5 at the protest in the spring. “We’re tired of this happening in this community. We’re tired of this happening in our school.”
He said he still is passionate about seeing change at CCSD, months later, despite having graduated.
“After the events of what happened at Eldorado, I told myself I’m never gonna let this happen again.”
He did this by getting his diploma and applying it to a security position, for which he was hired.
In a matter of weeks, he is going to work at Jerome Mack Middle School as a campus security monitor, in the same district that raised him.
“I’ve always wanted to see myself helping people, helping young kids, helping whoever I can, and this is a great way to do it.”
Meanwhile, CCSD leaders seemingly listened to students’ rally cries; Eldorado was just given security enhancements to the tune of $26 million dollars, including a secure perimeter fence, updated surveillance cameras and more.
“Now, they’re starting to improve it,” said Van-Dyke.
Meantime, Human Resources has one less campus security monitor position they have to worry about filling.
Van-Dyke will be patrolling school corridors at Mack Middle School starting in August.
“I want them to always stay positive, and just get an education, that’s what I want really want them to do,” said Van-Dyke. “And if they feel safe in that environment, while getting an education, that’s a win-win for everybody.”
The more than 300,000 students that make up CCSD will begin classes for next school year on Monday, August 8.
Some of the responsibilities of a campus security monitor at CCSD include operating surveillance cameras, staying visible and patrolling student areas, examining the security of doors, windows, and gates, monitoring for suspicious activities and stopping visitors on campus to ensure they’re authorized to be there.
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