MOORPARK : Bid to Hire Campus Officer Abandoned

A Moorpark school board member who suggested that the city and school district jointly fund an on-campus gang intervention officer said Thursday that he will abandon the plan because of a lack of support from the city.

Clint Harper said that without a financial commitment from the city to help pay the salary of the officer, who would have handled questioning of students, the move would be impossible. The City Council discussed the proposal late Wednesday and decided not to participate.

Harper pitched the idea last month, after some school board members voiced concerns over the frequency of Ventura County sheriff’s deputies’ visits to Moorpark schools and over questioning tactics used with students. Harper said at the time that hiring one deputy to do all questioning could allay those concerns.

The cost of the deputy has been estimated at up to $90,000, he said.

Moorpark Mayor Paul Lawrason spoke out against the plan Wednesday, saying the city would be spending taxpayer money to help solve an internal school board problem.

“We’re not going to spend city money to solve their problem,” Lawrason said after the meeting. “The concept of having more youth-oriented officers is something that most of us can get behind, but, for me, certainly not under these circumstances.”