Pomona Schools Top Crime Tally for Region

A State Board of Education report shows that Pomona schools had the most crime among San Gabriel Valley schools last year, while Monrovia, with a smaller enrollment, had a higher rate of assaults per student.

The 25,183-student Pomona Unified School District recorded 744 assaults and 95 weapons--including seven guns--seized during the 1988-89 school year, according to the report, released this spring. Although Pomona had the most overall crimes, its rate of assaults was in the mid-range, 0.03.

Monrovia Unified School District, with 5,304 students, reported 329 assaults. That was 0.06 attacks per student, the highest rate of assault of any district in the San Gabriel Valley.

Schools in Alhambra’s elementary and high school districts came in third, with 657 assaults, for rates of 0.04 assaults per high school student and 0.03 per elementary school pupil.

In general, the report said, drug use, robberies and sex offenses declined in the last year while assaults, crimes against property and instances of weapons possession rose. Statewide, incidents of students possessing firearms were up 40% in 1988-89 from the previous school year.

School districts showing the lowest crime rates were San Marino Unified, South Pasadena Unified, Temple City Unified, Pasadena Unified, El Monte City Elementary, Arcadia Unified, Garvey Elementary and Valle Lindo Elementary. San Marino reported no assaults on campus and just one weapons incident, a junior high school student caught carrying a knife.

Pasadena officials said they were pleased to see the district’s overall crime and assault rates decline. “We’ve spent an awful lot of time on and about the campus, and parents are doing a better job counseling their kids,” said Charles Parcell, chief of campus police in Pasadena.

The number of assaults fell from 285 the previous year to 133, said Jim Charles, Pasadena director of student support services. Weapons possession declined slightly, to 29 incidents from 31 the year before.

The report was criticized by some district superintendents, who said it grouped infractions in a misleading way and punished those districts that scrupulously record every minor incident.

“Our crime rate is slightly increasing, but not the amount that shows in those reports,” said Donald Montgomery, superintendent of the Monrovia Unified School District. Montgomery said he was taken aback by the number of assaults given for Monrovia, four of which involved weapons.

“It’s obvious we’re counting things that other schools aren’t. That’s the only explanation I can give.”

Pomona officials said the numbers on assaults and weapons brought to school reflected a nationwide trend toward violence, both at school and in the community at large.

“We’re certainly aware of the problem, and we’re doing everything we can to combat that,” said Suzie Hogan, Pomona Unified coordinator for child welfare and attendance. She noted that 17 students were expelled last year, some of them for weapons possession.

School administrators also said that some of the reported crimes were committed by outsiders who came onto school campuses.

“Most of your serious assaults start in the neighborhoods and come onto the school grounds. They’re not initiated by students,” said Parcell of Pasadena.

“The figures are misleading,” added Bruce Peppin, superintendent of the Alhambra Elementary School and High School districts. “We do not have a major problem, and I have no idea what those figures mean or how they got them.”

Peppin disputed statistics showing 315 assaults at the elementary school level and 342 at the high school level.

“What it includes are individual fights between students and normal altercations that aren’t assaults,” Peppin said. “When you’ve got 20,000 kids, 300 (conflicts) isn’t very many.”

His concerns were echoed by a dozen other San Gabriel Valley district officials. All said they will expect more accurate statistics next year, after the state revises the classifications.

For instance, Covina Valley Unified schools logged 15 sex offenses, the most among San Gabriel Valley schools. Rowland Unified recorded 13, one of which was classified as rape. Officials of both districts said most of the sex offenses consisted of name-calling or a pupil pulling up another’s clothing in class.

“A majority of (the incidents) were in the elementary schools, where a student called another student a name and it was classified as a sex offense,” said Diane Ho, a Rowland spokeswoman. She said that district’s School Crime Handbook classifies “annoying children” as a sex offense, so minor incidents often are misreported.

Starting this year, Ho said, “We’re trying to align our records more with police reports.”

Administrators said that definitions of crime vary from district to district, so the statistics on some districts will be alarming.

At Baldwin Park Unified schools, for example, bringing firecrackers to school is classified as possession of explosives, district Supt. David Barker said. A toy gun would be regarded as a firearm and the knife category includes personal items such as Swiss Army knives and manicure files.

“One of the problems with that report is that different standards are used by different districts, so you are not comparing apples with apples,” Barker said.

“Our statistics are high because we have our own police force on campus, and they report everything. A normal schoolyard push-and-shove gets included in that list,” he added.

Baldwin Park schools, with 15,434 students, logged 148 assaults, 53 weapons confiscations and 555 crimes against property, mostly incidents of vandalism.

Some districts showing the most assaults also had the least vandalism. Conversely, districts with very few assaults often had relatively numerous instances of vandalism.

Pomona Unified reported 107 crimes against property; South Pasadena, with 3,474 students, reported 103.

Pomona reported five assaults with weapons for the 1988-89 school year, but some campuses with lower overall crime rates eclipsed Pomona in armed assaults. Rowland Unified, for example, reported 18 such incidents. West Covina and Azusa schools each logged 17 armed assaults.

Azusa Supt. Duane Stiff said none of the incidents caused serious injury to a student. “It’s hard to say exactly what constituted the 17,” he said, “but I can assure you unequivocally that most of (the weapons) were not guns.”

West Covina officials attributed that district’s statistics to fights between students who were carrying concealed weapons, such as screwdrivers.

“If a student has a weapon and he’s involved in a fight but doesn’t use the weapon, that gets recorded as an assault with a weapon,” said Mary Herbener, director of child welfare and attendance at West Covina.

“We only had one fight where a weapon was actually used, and that weapon was a pencil.”

CRIME REPORTED IN SAN GABRIEL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, 1988-89

Alhambra Alhambra Baldwin City City Arcadia Azusa Park Category Elementary High Unified Unified Unified ENROLLMENT 10,225 9,300 7,546 10,176 15,434 ASSAULTS Against students 0 0 49 180 133 Against employees 5 9 1 12 15 Against others 310 333 0 0 0 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 0 1 2 17 3 Against employees 0 0 0 0 0 Against others 0 0 0 0 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 0 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 3 7 0 3 5 ROBBERY 0 0 0 2 1 EXTORTION 0 0 0 1 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 1 47 8 19 54 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 1 4 2 1 4 Knife 11 17 2 15 30 Explosives 1 5 4 5 14 Other 1 2 4 2 5 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 3 0 7 0 7 Burglary 3 3 6 9 30 Theft 64 39 12 14 64 Vandalism 156 105 34 70 454

Bassett Bonita Category Unified Unified ENROLLMENT 5,137 9,628 ASSAULTS Against students 55 320 Against employees 3 3 Against others 3 3 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 2 0 Against employees 1 0 Against others 0 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 5 5 ROBBERY 2 2 EXTORTION 0 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 8 50 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 0 1 Knife 11 36 Explosives 0 46 Other 2 7 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 4 6 Burglary 17 6 Theft 43 52 Vandalism 138 83

Charter Covina- El Monte Oak Claremont Valley Duarte City Category Unified Unified Unified Unified Elementary ENROLLMENT 5,564 5,984 11,254 4,544 10,735 ASSAULTS Against students 33 148 286 139 7 Against employees 3 3 14 6 7 Against others 0 0 5 1 2 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 2 0 1 0 0 Against employees 0 0 0 0 1 Against others 0 0 0 0 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 0 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 0 2 15 8 0 ROBBERY 0 1 1 4 0 EXTORTION 0 2 6 0 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 11 23 19 6 43 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 0 5 1 0 2 Knife 7 7 19 14 14 Explosives 9 10 9 18 2 Other 0 12 7 6 4 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 4 2 2 5 5 Burglary 9 5 49 5 40 Theft 9 68 79 110 21 Vandalism 190 37 475 62 305

El Monte Union Category High ENROLLMENT 8,261 ASSAULTS Against students 223 Against employees 2 Against others 0 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 1 Against employees 0 Against others 0 HOMICIDE 0 SEX OFFENSES 0 ROBBERY 3 EXTORTION 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 6 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 2 Knife 8 Explosives 2 Other 2 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 0 Burglary 2 Theft 22 Vandalism 34

Hacienda Mountain Garvey Glendora La Puente Monrovia View Category Elementary Unified Unified Unified Elementary ENROLLMENT 7,313 5,868 22,773 5,304 8,536 ASSAULTS Against students 28 131 275 320 96 Against employees 2 0 6 9 5 Against others 0 0 0 0 0 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 0 0 3 3 4 Against employees 0 0 0 0 0 Against others 0 0 0 1 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 0 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 1 1 7 6 3 ROBBERY 0 0 8 1 0 EXTORTION 1 0 1 0 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 0 19 56 8 3 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 0 0 2 3 8 Knife 2 7 29 9 24 Explosives 1 2 20 7 16 Other 1 4 7 6 1 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 1 2 6 2 3 Burglary 7 10 43 3 10 Theft 10 24 98 9 19 Vandalism 134 69 181 214 27

Pasadena Category Unified ENROLLMENT 21,590 ASSAULTS Against students 72 Against employees 61 Against others 0 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 3 Against employees 0 Against others 0 HOMICIDE 0 SEX OFFENSES 3 ROBBERY 0 EXTORTION 5 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 65 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 1 Knife 26 Explosives 2 Other 0 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 1 Burglary 12 Theft 17 Vandalism 34

San San Pomona Rosemead Rowland Gabriel Marino Category Unified Elementary Unified Elementary Unified ENROLLMENT 25,183 2,770 19,091 3,179 2,682 ASSAULTS Against students 723 74 267 36 0 Against employees 21 1 19 1 0 Against others 0 0 2 0 0 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 4 0 16 1 1 Against employees 1 0 1 0 0 Against others 0 0 1 0 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 0 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 5 2 13 3 0 ROBBERY 1 0 3 0 0 EXTORTION 2 0 2 0 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 52 4 57 4 0 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 7 0 0 2 0 Knife 48 2 19 6 1 Explosives 29 4 6 3 0 Other 11 0 9 2 0 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 1 0 14 0 1 Burglary 4 9 14 17 1 Theft 44 28 106 27 36 Vandalism 58 13 319 108 12

South Pasadena Category Unified ENROLLMENT 3,474 ASSAULTS Against students 3 Against employees 5 Against others 2 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 0 Against employees 0 Against others 0 HOMICIDE 0 SEX OFFENSES 1 ROBBERY 0 EXTORTION 0 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 2 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 0 Knife 1 Explosives 2 Other 0 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 2 Burglary 21 Theft 53 Vandalism 27

Temple Valle West Walnut City Lindo Covina Valley Category Unified Elementary Unified Unified ENROLLMENT 4,255 1,032 7,866 11,553 ASSAULTS Against students 0 8 213 134 Against employees 1 0 16 3 Against others 0 0 0 10 ASSAULTS W/ WEAPONS Against students 0 0 17 0 Against employees 0 0 0 0 Against others 0 0 0 0 HOMICIDE 0 0 0 0 SEX OFFENSES 0 0 2 1 ROBBERY 0 1 0 0 EXTORTION 0 0 0 4 SUBSTANCE ABUSE 4 1 18 30 POSSESSION OF WEAPONS Gun 0 0 2 1 Knife 3 0 9 10 Explosives 1 2 11 3 Other 0 0 10 7 PROPERTY CRIMES Arson 3 0 1 4 Burglary 21 0 2 1 Theft 13 3 26 31 Vandalism 47 0 53 72

Source: California Department of Education