Schools May Clarify Rules on Police

In the wake of a false arrest of a misidentified student, the Oxnard Union High School District is considering a proposal clarifying the district’s policies on visiting police officers.

Board members this week studied a policy that includes requiring administrators to ask all police officers to identify themselves when they arrive on campus. School officials also would be required to record in writing the identity of the police officer and to call the parent after police interview a student.

The change in the district’s administrative policy comes after an incident at Adolpho Camarillo High School in December. Police arrested, then quickly released, junior Ashley Anderson, who had the same name as another Camarillo resident suspected of stabbing a man in Los Angeles.

Ashley, 16, and her mother brought the incident to the board’s attention and urged the district to prevent the same thing from happening to another student.

Police and the school district have had a number of talks recently that led to a greater understanding about how to protect students’ rights, while letting police do their job, trustees said.

With the new policy in place, district officials say it’s unlikely the same thing will happen again. In accordance with state law, the policy also says that police do not need the consent of a parent to interview a student and that administrators do not have a right to be present when a student is interviewed.

Board members will decide whether to approve the policy during their next meeting Feb. 26.