High Schools Use Metal Detectors to Scan Youths : Oxnard district: Officials find no weapons after randomly searching 124 students at six campuses.

Determined to crack down on students carrying guns and knives to school, the Oxnard Union High School District on Wednesday became the first in Ventura County to use hand-held metal detectors to search students for weapons.

Officials found no weapons after randomly searching a total of 124 students at the district’s six high schools. They also reported no problems or resistance from students or parents.

“The fact that nothing was found today does not change our position as far as moving forward and doing this on a daily basis,” said Supt. William Studt. “We hope we never find anything.”

Students had mixed feelings about the searches.

“I think it gives our school a bad reputation,” said Tyese Armstrong, a 16-year-old sophomore at Oxnard High School. “People are going to say, ‘Oh, that school is bad.’ And it’s not bad.”

But her classmate, Felipe Angeles, who was among 10 students selected from an afternoon gym class to be searched, said he supported the new security measure.

“It’s all right if it saves people’s lives,” said Felipe, 17.

The searches in the 12,000-student district were conducted by teams of male and female school administrators who were trained by Oxnard police on how to use the metal detectors. Teachers were not involved in the checks.

“Nobody likes doing this,” said Eric Ortega, principal of Rio Mesa High School. “But if we can save anyone from being injured, then it’s worth it.”

Studt said each school will routinely conduct two random searches a day. Each search will be done outside classrooms and will include a group of 10 to 15 students, whose backpacks, purses and other personal belongings will also be searched. Lockers will not be searched.

To avoid charges of discrimination, principals will draw slips of paper from two separate boxes, one containing the names of all teachers and the other listing the six class periods. Once the classes are selected, the administrator will pick out students by matching their last names with randomly chosen letters of the alphabet.

For example, a principal may decide that those students whose last names begin with the letter “S” will be searched. But if there are only five students in a class who meet the criteria, the principal may then choose another letter to expand the group.

“We just want to ensure that the searches are carried out even-handedly,” Studt said.

On Feb. 25, Studt announced his decision to use metal detectors in response to escalating violence on school campuses in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The decision was also motivated by the rising number of students bringing weapons to school in the Oxnard district.

During the last 18 months, the district has expelled 37 students for carrying knives and three for possession of guns. Another student from the district was recently expelled for firing a gun into the air at Ventura High School.

“Students will rise to the expectations you set for them,” Studt said of the decision to use metal detectors. “And the expectation we are trying to set is that weapons will not be tolerated on our campuses.”

Studt said he has received more than 100 calls of support from parents and only one letter from a family complaining that it felt the searches were intrusive.

Several students said Wednesday that while they do not oppose them, the searches can make students feel uncomfortable and in some cases embarrassed.

Lindsey Robinson, a 16-year-old sophomore at Camarillo High School, said officials recently demonstrated how the scanners would be used and discovered a problem they had not anticipated when they searched female students.

“The metal in their bras caused it to go off,” she said.

Studt said there will be fewer problems once everybody adapts to the searches.

“We don’t want to make this a problem for students,” Studt said. “We think after awhile it will be just part of the daily routine, and you won’t even notice it, like when you go to airport” and pass through metal detectors.

The superintendent said any student who resists a search will be subject to disciplinary action, including possible suspension. He said the district also has established a 24-hour hot line--483-8131--to take anonymous tips about weapons on campus.

The Los Angeles Unified School District began using metal detectors Feb. 6 to randomly search students and has “not experienced any significant problems,” said Herbert Graham, the district’s safety director.

“We have designed the searches in such a way as to discourage lawsuits,” he said of the random search system used in Los Angeles schools.

Graham said the district has even invited members of the American Civil Liberties Union to observe searches in the schools.

Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the ACLU, said the organization is concerned that the searches be conducted randomly and without discrimination, so as not to violate an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches.

He said the ACLU, which will release a report next month on the use of metal detectors in schools, has not taken an official stand on the issue and does not plan any court challenges at this time.

“Anyone who thinks the ACLU is going to file a knee-jerk lawsuit doesn’t appreciate the concerns we have of the complexities of issues like this in our society,” Parachini said.

Graham said he was not surprised that a school district in suburban Ventura County would decide to use metal detectors.

“There’s no isolation of this kind of problem,” he said. “Weapons are so plentiful, everyone can get hold of them.”