Weapons at Schools Up, Drug Use Less : Report: A 95% increase in assaults with weapons over a four-year period contrasts with a decrease in crimes from 9,016 in 1987-88 to 8,554 in 1988-89.

A record number of public school students in Orange County are coming to school armed, but substance abuse at county schools is sharply dropping and total crimes committed on campuses are down from a year ago, according to a state report released Monday by the County Board of Education.

The fourth annual School Crime in California report, which is to be presented to the state Legislature by the state Department of Education, showed that while crimes committed in schools decreased 2% statewide over the past four years, crime in Orange County schools rose 4% during the same period.

Included in the Orange County findings was a startling 95% rise in assaults with weapons--guns, knives, explosives and other devices--over the past four years, with 43 incidents reported in the 1985-86 school year compared to 84 incidents reported in the 1988-89 school year. From 1987-88 to 1988-89, the number of assaults with weapons rose from 66 to 84, a 21% increase.

Vandalism also showed a significant increase over the four-year period, rising 22%.

But while the four-year trend showed a rise in school crime, the total number of crimes reported countywide dropped from 9,016 in 1987-88 to 8,554 in 1988-89. Last year’s figure, however, still represents a 4% rise from the 1985-86 school year, when 7,954 crimes were reported.

There was one murder in a public school in the county last year, compared to none in 1987-88 and two the previous year.

In other categories, sex offenses, robberies, extortions and substance abuse were all down at county schools, according to the report. Substance abuse represented the most dramatic decrease, with the number of reported drug and alcohol users in county schools dropping from 1,196 in 1985-86 to 565 last year--a 54% decrease.

At a press conference at the county Board of Education headquarters, county Supt. of Schools Robert Peterson credited the county’s intensive Comprehensive Alcohol and Drug Prevention Education program with curtailing drug use among the county’s public school students.

As for rises in weapons use, Peterson placed the blame on the rise in gang activity, lack of communication between schools and law enforcement agencies and parents who “don’t know how to adroitly control their children.”

“Anyone who would sit watching television five hours a day would be hardened by anything they’re watching,” Peterson said.

Peterson added that school administrators can help resolve the weapons problem by making students realize that “the school is a safe location, that there’s no need to bring weapons.” He also called on law enforcement and social service agencies to work more closely with schools to help identify problem children and their families so that schools may better deal with potentially violent situations.

Cynthia F. Grennan, superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District, and Duncan Johnson, superintendent of the Fullerton School District, both of whom joined Peterson at the press conference, agreed that family problems not readily detected by school counselors and officials are responsible for many of the crimes committed in public schools. Grennan said the number of dysfunctional families she has encountered in the last five years are the highest she has seen in 30 years as an educator.

“I’m looking at homeless children for the first time,” she said.

But Grennan added that students are not responsible for all of the crimes committed on school campuses. She estimated that “about one in five” crimes on school grounds are committed by outsiders.

Johnson and Grennan both raised the possibility of tighter security in schools, including fencing off campus grounds.

Peterson said an even more stringent measure could be implemented if weapons use continues to rise. “We may reach the point where we have to install electronic devices at every entrance” to detect guns and knives, he said.

Peterson also said that figures showing an increase in crime in Orange County schools over the past four years while crime statewide is decreasing could be the result of under-reporting of crimes by districts in other counties.

“Among the 1,200 districts in the state, I would think that some turned in off-the-cuff figures,” he said.

Of statistics compiled by The Times for all but two school districts, the Garden Grove Unified School District far outdistanced other districts in number of crimes reported with 1,041 last year. (Figures for the Anaheim Union High School District, which has had a high crime rate in recent years, and the Savanna School District were not immediately available.)

Most of those incidents were property crimes, including arson, burglary, theft from students, theft from schools and vandalism, with 760 reported. There were also 125 assaults, 14 assaults with weapons, 12 sex offenses, four robberies, one incident of extortion, 50 incidents of substance abuse and 75 charges of weapons possession. There are 15,199 students in the district’s seven high schools.

Other districts reporting relatively high crime rates were the Huntington Beach Union High School District, with 860 incidents reported last year, and the Fullerton Joint Union High School District, which reported 600 crimes.

SCHOOL DISTRICT CRIME--JULY 1, 1988-JUNE 30, 1989

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Assault/ Assault/ Attack Attack Sex Districts No Weapon Weapon Homicide Offenses Robbery Anaheim 7 1 0 0 0 Buena Park 22 0 0 0 0 Centralia 0 0 0 0 0 Cypress 0 0 0 0 0 Fountain Valley 0 0 0 0 1 Fullerton 140 2 0 3 0 Huntington Beach 26 4 0 6 0 La Habra 8 1 0 3 0 Magnolia 9 0 0 2 0 Ocean View 19 0 0 0 0 Savanna not available Westminster 8 1 0 5 0

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Assault/ Assault/ Attack Attack Sex Districts No Weapon Weapon Homicide Offenses Anaheim Union not available Fullerton Joint Union 26 0 0 0 Huntington Beach Union 186 23 0 16

Districts Robbery Anaheim Union Fullerton Joint Union 5 Huntington Beach Union 4

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Assault/ Assault/ Attack Attack Sex Districts No Weapon Weapon Homicide Offenses Robbery Brea-Olinda 27 0 0 0 0 Capistrano 28 2 0 4 0 Garden Grove 125 14 0 12 4 Irvine 22 2 0 3 0 Laguna Beach 3 0 0 0 0 Los Alamitos 43 1 0 0 0 Newport-Mesa 96 1 0 5 3 Orange 113 5 0 0 3 Placentia * 59 2 0 0 3 Saddleback Valley 8 0 0 0 0 Santa Ana 110 3 1 13 1 Tustin 143 0 0 0 3 County Totals 1,745 84 1 86 30

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Substance Possession Property Districts Extortion Abuse of Weapons Crimes Anaheim 0 1 3 327 Buena Park 0 0 2 13 Centralia 0 0 0 100 Cypress 0 0 0 37 Fountain Valley 0 0 0 348 Fullerton 1 9 29 394 Huntington Beach 0 4 12 50 La Habra 0 2 7 66 Magnolia 0 0 0 37 Ocean View 0 9 11 93 Savanna not available Westminster 0 2 6 52

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Substance Possession Property Districts Extortion Abuse of Weapons Crimes Anaheim Union not available Fullerton Joint Union 1 76 24 466 Huntington Beach Union 1 44 53 526

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Substance Possession Property Districts Extortion Abuse of Weapons Crimes Brea-Olinda 0 3 7 91 Capistrano 0 69 28 223 Garden Grove 1 50 75 760 Irvine 0 19 9 135 Laguna Beach 0 14 0 13 Los Alamitos 0 25 6 99 Newport-Mesa 0 33 5 149 Orange 0 17 24 177 Placentia * 0 43 11 170 Saddleback Valley 0 22 20 338 Santa Ana 0 11 24 421 Tustin 0 35 14 206 County Totals 7 565 440 5,596

* Yorba Linda School District merged into Placentia District in Fall of 1989. Source: Individual school districts