LAGUNA BEACH : School District Sets Anti-Gang Goals

Setting the stage for what amounts to a preemptive strike against gang activity and other problems, the Laguna Beach Unified School District on Monday released a broad set of goals intended to keep youngsters from going astray and to boost community and parental involvement with students.

In a 23-page booklet outlining ways to improve the “quality of life” for the city’s youth, the district describes a plan of action that includes pressing for a beach curfew, installing an anti-gang telephone hot line and implementing a dress code for students.

Other goals include expanding after-school activities and the availability of counseling services and the creation of a hot line and support group for parents.

A key step in the process would be to create a committee on youth and children, a watchdog group composed of representatives from the City Council, the Police Department, local businesses and community groups to make sure programs are put in place, district Supt. Paul M. Possemato said.

“It’s a rather powerful type of recommendation,” he said. “Businesses and schools and community agencies have a responsibility to begin to think in terms of . . . what’s best for children, not what’s best for adults.”

Police, who have joined forces with the school district in this effort, say they will step up the enforcement of laws prohibiting house parties where alcohol is available to minors.

“I think we’re just refocusing on things that are critical and important,” deputy Police Chief James Spreine said. “The difference is it’s not just the Police Department working on it. It’s now a team effort.”

The packet of recommendations is an outgrowth of the Summit on Youth and Violent Crimes held in April in Laguna Beach, which was sponsored by the school district and the Police Department.

That meeting, held to address issues such as bigotry, intimidation and youth-related violent crime, was scheduled in response to two brutal attacks in Orange County involving teen-agers.

The first involved five teen-agers accused in the brutal New Year’s Eve murder of Orange honor student Stuart A. Tay. The second involved the January beating in Laguna Beach of a man who police say was targeted because the assailants thought he was gay.

Police said that there are no organized gangs in Laguna Beach but that outsiders tend to come to the beach for recreation, sometimes encountering other gang members, causing an eruption of violence.

Partly because Laguna Beach has been somewhat sheltered from gang problems that have plagued larger cities, Possemato said, it is important for local youths to be educated about how to eschew danger, such as learning which types of clothes they should avoid wearing.

To sharpen the focus on problems affecting youth, the district plans to hold a special meeting with police and City Council members before school starts, Possemato said.

Before recommendations such as a more stringent dress code could be implemented, the new policy would have to be approved by the Board of Education.

But Possemato said community concern is accelerating, causing adults to think more about ways to educate and protect youngsters in Laguna Beach.

“It’s moved rather rapidly,” he said. “We’ve become very acutely aware that Laguna Beach is no longer isolated.”