OXNARD : Student Brawl Leads to Call for New Panel

A group of black, Latino and Filipino parents and community leaders said Wednesday they want to form an advisory committee to the Oxnard Union High School District after a brawl between black and Latino students in Oxnard two months ago.

El Concilio, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Filipino-American Assn. hope to further investigate the causes of youth violence. The groups also asked the board to reconsider Principal Ruperto Cisneros’ request for a transfer from Oxnard High School.

“The benefit to having it be a community-based organization is that much of what causes youth violence is not on the campus,” said Marcos Vargas, executive director of El Concilio, an Oxnard-based Latino advocacy group. “It’s in the community.”

The board took no action on the request, made at its regular biweekly meeting, but district Supt. Ian Kirkpatrick told the parents he had reservations about the committee, which he said was not representative of the entire Oxnard community. He also said he thought suggestions for further studies would be time-consuming and expensive.

Meanwhile, the high school district board voted in closed session to expel another student who was involved in the brawl. Eighteen students were suspended after the Feb. 27 incident, and nine of them have been expelled.

The fight began in the school’s gymnasium among students who had been sent to the gym to escape the rain.

Students who are expelled can either attend a county continuation school or try to transfer to another district.

Names and grades of the students cannot be disclosed because of laws protecting their records.