Response to Off-Campus Attacks : School Board Adopts Student Code of Conduct

A policy to hold athletes and other students in extracurricular activities accountable for off-campus misconduct such as violence was unanimously adopted Thursday night by the San Dieguito Union High School District Board of Education.

The action gives the North County district the toughest policy on off-campus behavior in the county.

Adopted in the wake of several off-campus beatings inflicted by San Dieguito High School athletes, the new policy will allow school officials to remove a student from a team or school group.

“This sends a clear message to anybody in extracurricular activities about what the board’s standards are,” Supt. William Berrier said.

“It serves as a contract once the students and his parents sign it. It means we will have a little easier time disciplining students for violating the code of conduct.”

The policy states:

“Off-campus involvement will be subject to discipline if the behavior has an adverse effect on student discipline or the learning and teaching environment.”

The policy was opposed by student representatives to the board.

“I think a student’s actions off campus should be dealt with by parents and police,” said Travis Elliott, 18, a senior at Sunset High School.

Among the kinds of misconduct cited as appropriate for suspension or removal from a school activity are drug or alcohol use, gambling, theft, destruction of property, fighting, arson and extortion.

The code is meant to cover instances when the behavior is serious but not grave enough to warrant outright suspension or expulsion from school.

One section of the policy would allow school officials to strip an athlete of any awards won during the playing season.

Two weeks ago, the San Dieguito High football team named as player of the year a linebacker who had pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and missed the final three games because he was in Juvenile Hall after being arrested for alleged witness intimidation on campus.

Berrier said he thought the players were “reacting to the press building up a fellow player as a monster.”

“I don’t see their actions as a mature response,” he said. “It was disappointing to the administration but I didn’t think it was appropriate for us to step in, because conduct was not yet part of the selection process.”

Along with the new off-campus conduct policy, the board also called for a task force to be formed among school officials, the San Diego County district attorney’s office, the Sheriff’s Department and parent groups. The task force would explore such problems as unsupervised teen-age parties involving drugs and alcohol.