Board reaffirms pledge to protect students from trafficking

Grossmont Union High School District’s Governing Board unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to protect students from the dangers of hu­man trafficking. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan has noted that human trafficking is a $150 billion global industry, with sex trafficking alone generating $810 million annually in San Diego. Many victims are minors between the ages of 14 and 17, often lured through social media and online platforms.

Recognizing the increasing threats of online exploitation and the heightened risk that runaway and missing youth faces falling into the hands of traffickers, the Board has directed the District to strengthen its safety measures, expand its education and prevention efforts, and update its protocols for responding to reports of missing students.

“The Governing Board’s commitment to safeguarding students is unwavering,” said Governing Board President Dr. Gary Woods. “Two years ago, this Board made protecting students from human trafficking a top priority. Since then, we’ve equipped staff, students, and families with resources to prevent exploitation and established new procedures for responding to missing youth situations. With the passage of this resolution, the Board reaffirms our dedication to this critical work.”

The Governing Board is strengthening response protocols for missing student situations. In addition to the threat of trafficking, runaway and missing youth are at significant risk of exploitation and sexual assault by individuals who may not be traffickers but still pose serious harm to a child. Under this resolution, the Govern­ing Board calls on the District to strengthen response protocols in its Operational Bulletin for missing and runaway youth situations, ensuring collaboration with organizations specializing in locating missing youth and combating human traffick­ing. The District will also expand digital safety awareness efforts for students and families, promoting resources such as the GoGuardian Parent application to help mitigate the risks of online exploitation.

The approved Resolution builds on two years of concrete actions initiated by the Governing Board, including a process for distributing community alerts whenever a GUHSD student is reported missing, with parental consent. This process is part of the Board’s comprehensive approach to ensuring that all available resources are swiftly mobilized to lo­cate missing students and prevent potential exploitation by traf­fickers or others.

“We are commit­ted to keeping our students safe and en­suring that our com­munity has the tools, resources, and knowl­edge to prevent exploi­tation,” said Woods. “Through these ac­tions, we can build a safer, more secure fu­ture for all students.”