KQED News | She Stops School Fights Before They Start. Oakland May Cut Her Job
Over two years working as a school-based violence interrupter at Castlemont, Saffold, 54, has learned to decipher the signs that can precipitate a fight. Yelling is obvious, but sometimes they’re more subtle: A student just seems different one day. Maybe they’re quiet or grumpy.
Saffold’s duty is to get ahead of conflicts before they boil over into brawls — or worse. It’s a job that took on renewed urgency after a student was shot and injured at the city’s Skyline High School last month, but with Oakland schools facing a crippling budget shortfall, the future of that work is in doubt.
Someone for students to turn to
The term “violence interrupter” doesn’t mean much to Saffold’s students. To them, she’s a mediator, mentor and confidant. She’s got a dozen “school daughters” who call her “mom,” but her vibe is more cool auntie than nagging parent.
This work is a long game — less about swooping in right before a squabble breaks out than it is about building relationships far ahead of time, when there’s no sign of trouble.
Students Realidy (left), 16, and Nevaeh, 16, talk in the hallway at Castlemont High School in Oakland on Dec. 5, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
“My goal is to get them to understand that they could trust me and they could count on me,” she says. “A lot of the students are not used to that.”
She buys gift cards to celebrate good grades and takes students out to eat, or to a food pantry, if they don’t have groceries at home. For her, that’s part of preventing violence: addressing conditions like neglect and hunger that can give rise to it.
“She checks in on kids, like, ‘Hey, why are you not in class? Are you feeling good today?’ Like, anything and everything,” says 16-year-old junior Nevaeh, who asked to be identified by only her first name.
Saffold spends most of her time listening to students. All day, they approach her with updates about their minor beefs or major family troubles. They vent and ask for advice, and in between, they keep her keyed into conflicts brewing out of her view on social media.
“You hear that somebody’s about to get into a fight, but she already knows, so she’s stopping both of the girls,” Nevaeh says. “She’ll let other staff members know. She’s like, ‘Watch out for them.’”