The Berkeley Unified School District released a plan on Tuesday to improve security at the high school, but didn’t address one of the major recommendations made by the police – to put security officers in uniform.

The district will pay to have a police officer on campus five days a week instead of four; accelerate training for security officers; hire an independent agency to examine the district’s security procedures; create an ad hoc committee to examine whether to partially close the campus and require students to display identification badges; and install internal locks on classroom doors, among other changes. The measures will cost the district $89,000, according to the report.

But the long list of changes do not address concerns raised by the Berkeley police Department in a letter sent to Superintendent Bill Huyett on March 31. In the correspondence, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan said his “top recommendation” for the security program is to put safety officers in uniform.

“We recommend all security personnel have a visible, uniformed appearance,” wrote Meehan. “Visible security personnel are a deterrent to non-students attempting to enter campus for unauthorized or illegal purposes. Additionally, this increases security personnel safety by ensuring responding police officers can easily recognize and coordinate with staff during incidents.”

Meehan’s letter also suggests that the security officers be equipped with handcuffs or plastic flexcuffs to restrain students. That point wasn’t addressed in the new plan either.

No top officials at the school district could be contacted to comment on the report or police letter since it is spring break. The report will be presented to the school board at its April 13 meeting.

The question of uniforms for school safety officers has been an issue for decades at Berkeley High. For years the officers refused to wear a uniform, but in recent years have started to wear blue jackets and white or black polo shirts with a Berkeley High logo on it.

Still, the uniforms so closely resemble normal street attire that it is often difficult to distinguish the safety officers, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley police department. When there is a brawl, for example, and safety officers are trying to break apart a group of fighting students, the officers are hard to tell apart from the students, she said.

“At the present, there are times when Berkeley police personnel don’t know the difference between the safety officers, who are full grown men, and students, who have the appearance of full grown men,” said Kusmiss.

In addition, if the safety officers were wearing uniforms while patrolling the high school, non-students who might be thinking on coming campus might think twice, she said.