Grand Jury Report Assails Schools’ Safety Procedures

Ventura County schools aren’t doing enough to reduce the number of weapons on campus or to increase school safety, the grand jury reported Wednesday.

During the 1997-98 school year, there were 130 incidents of weapons possession and 13 assaults involving weapons

on campuses throughout the county, according to the report. In addition, 30% of students from six randomly chosen schools said they saw a weapon on campus or heard comments about students bringing them to school.

Though the number of weapons possessions in the county dropped 11% over the last three school years, there was no change in the number of weapons assaults.

The grand jury criticized schools for having inadequate safety plans, and recommended that all campuses reevaluate their “safe school” procedures to ensure compliance with federal legislation. It also recommended that schools increase the number of psychologists and counselors to help identify troubled students. And it urged districts to evaluate their day and nighttime security, offer more preventive programs and forge partnerships with law enforcement agencies.

“It is imperative that all Ventura County public school districts accept the responsibility and challenge of providing the charges left in their care with the highest level of school security possible,” the report said. “They cannot afford to wait until circumstances compel them to act.”

The highest number of weapons possessions, 38, took place in the Oxnard Union High School District, followed by 24 in Ventura Unified and 16 in Simi Valley Unified and Conejo Valley Unified school districts.

Though the numbers seem high, they are representative of student populations in the individual districts, said Conejo Valley Supt. Jerry Gross. Each of the four districts has a student population of more than 10,000.

“We’re one of the largest districts, so it doesn’t surprise me that we have more incidents,” said Dennis Carter, director of student support services for Simi Valley Unified.

Oxnard Union High School District officials criticized the study, saying that it was not fair to compare the number of weapons recovered in their district, which has only high schools, with some of the other 19 districts, many of which include only middle and elementary schools.

The report did not give details about the incidents. But several districts said very few involved guns. For example, in Conejo Valley, 15 of 16 incidents were with knives, and one was with a BB gun--off campus. In Ventura, 23 incidents involved knives and one a gun.

To conduct the study, the grand jury randomly chose six campuses within three districts--Pleasant Valley Elementary, Fillmore Unified and Oxnard Union High School--to serve as case-study schools. At each school, members of the grand jury reviewed safe school plans, observed school security procedures, interviewed staff about programs for troubled youths and asked students their thoughts about school safety.

The report commended schools for existing safety programs, and made recommendations for improving them, including using metal detectors, increasing security staff and installing phones in classrooms. At Fillmore High School, for example, the grand jury made 10 suggestions, including offering training for custodians in how to identify pipe bombs, instituting a daily weapon monitoring program and building a fence around the campus.

Principal John Wilber said he plans to consider all the recommendations, but is apprehensive about a regular weapons check. “I’m not sure we’re ready to do that at Fillmore High School,” he said. “We haven’t had any gun incidents here, and our students clearly know that it is not permissible.”

He said the high school did, however, recently install cameras and begin using dogs to check for drugs. The school also applied for a grant to hire a police officer for the campus.

That’s already the case at high schools in Ventura and Oxnard. This year the Ventura Police Department assigned two full-time officers to the city’s high school campuses.

“They’ll make a difference for a variety of reasons,” said Lt. Gary McCaskill, spokesman for the department. “The children will get to see them on a regular basis, talk to them, interact with them, and that’s a good thing. But they are also there to do a job, and they are doing an excellent job.”

Oxnard Union High School District also conducts random metal detector searches on students. Officials insist their students are no more likely than any others to bring weapons. Rather, administrators and police officers are just more diligent in searching for them.

“The more aggressive you are the more it’s going to be reported,” said Karl Dyer, school resource officer for Channel Islands High School.

But, Dyer added, the district’s aggressive stance on finding weapons does seem to be having an effect. As proof, he pointed out that it is June and he has discovered only three weapons this year.

Most districts have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons on campus. Conejo Valley, Ventura and Simi Valley recommend expulsion, and several other districts suspend students who come to school with any weapon.

Ventura Unified Assistant Supt. Jerry Dannenberg said he plans to consider carefully the grand jury’s recommendations. But he said it won’t be a cursory review.

“School safety is something we have to be ever vigilant about,” he said. “It’s not an event. It’s an ongoing process to make sure that all students are safe. And we’re constantly looking for ways to improve.”