AnonymousBy Rosanne Crawford
Public comments continued to come in at the Santa Barbara Unified School District board meeting on 10/26 that included Sherif Bill Brown, A Ventura District Attorney and students and parents that have started petitions on their campus.
Recently, action agenda item 7 on the 10/12/21 School Board meeting was set for approval of the contract with the School Resource Deputy. A School Resource Deputy is a sworn Law enforcement officer responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools. For Agenda and documents attachments see https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/sbunified/Board.nsf/Public
Unexpectedly, however, Superintendent Maldonado however took the Board in a different direction and made a special request to change the action 7 from approval of the contract to a discussion item. The president of the Board Kate Ford granted the request. What was even more unprecedented was after discussion and comments they changed it back to an action item.
The entire youtube of the meeting is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfX4JICaEHM Buffer to the time towards the end of the meeting at 4:18:59 thru 6:04:56 for this item to hear discussion details.
The reversal was questioned by the astute Student Board representative who stated that public comments of some invited groups were opposite of what he had been hearing from his constituents who are students on the campus and asked that it be postponed so others could be included in the discussion.
The board however unanimously decided to go against the prior motion to approve the placement and funding of a School Resource Deputy ( SRD) at San Marcos High School for the 2021-2022 school year. (Source: Independent)
One of the strongest statements in this article was: “There is just not enough evidence that a [School Resource Officer] prevents gun violence,” Board Member Laura Capps said. “It’s not something I can support going forward.”
The security officer had been put in place because of an increase in violence and drug use on campus as well as increased incidences of cyber bullying and sexual misconduct. Since 2016 there had been a 41% increase of weapon related offences. (Source: Noozhawk)
Only weeks ago a San Marcos tennis coach and physics teacher was arrested at school after the juvenile male victim reported the incident to local law enforcement. (Source: Independent)
In March 2019, a Goleta man was charged with multiple felonies of child molestation and pornography after the investigation of a case which began when San Marcos High school was notified the student victim had reported to the School Resource Officer that the individual was attempting communications of a sexual matter. (Source: Noozhawk)
What you can do
Email your opinion to the Superintendent and Board members.
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Wait, what? Dads patrolling instead of cops? I definitely don’t want a stay at home dad in charge of my kid’s safety. Where on earth is this even a thing? If we’re going to rely on parents to protect everyone, throw a gaggle of stay at home Karens in there. At least they’ll be in constant communication with the real police.
One needs to look at specific misbehavior and see whether that behavior is punished equally across races. Seems to me there is data showing that (statistically, not in all cases) if a black kid and a white kid do the same bad thing, the white kid is more likely to get off easy. Looking at arrest numbers does not necessarily indicate actual numbers of crimes committed.
GENERALTREE – I’m not looking up arrests for 9 and 6 year olds. This is about HIGH SCHOOL.
““There is just not enough evidence that a [School Resource Officer] prevents gun violence,”” – how do you know how many attacks/altercations have been deterred by the presence of a resource officer on campus? ” — Once again SacJon fails basic logic. “there’s not enough evidence to conclude P” does not mean that we can conclude “not P”. And as for “you can’t say cops on campus don’t prevent gun violence, and then turn around and say the absence of DUIs is due to checkpoints.” — there is no one person who has said those two things.
“maybe they commit more crimes.”
Maybe not. Maybe people inclined to believe the former are ______s.
“Just because one race was arrested more than another, doesn’t mean they were targeted.”
Numerous studies have documented bias, intentional or otherwise. For instance, the disparity between black and white traffic stops declines at night when it’s harder to see. There’s a large disparity for job applications with identical content when submitted with black-sounding names (or female). Music auditions behind screens reduce disparity. And on and on.
MarcelK makes a good point at 02:02 pm
No Generaltree…that is clearly and obviously wrong and any/all research you are looking at is obviously wildly biased. School resource officers are invaluable…
GENERALTREE “Schools resource officers are disproportionately placed in schools where the majority of students identify as Black” – We have them at our local high schools, did you not know that?
GT “Who said the dads would be in charge of safety? ” – Uh…. isn’t that exactly what you were talking about? “I’m all for the “Dad’s on Duty” concept ”
Look, I just feel that SROs are a benefit, at least in our local schools. Cops abusing power and being racist is a bigger issue, one I don’t dispute, that won’t be resolved by taking away SROs and the vast benefits they provide to the students’ safety and security.
Vet them better, train them better, penalize them harsher for abuse/racism, but don’t just blanket ban them. That ignores the bigger problem in the police force. While it has issues and has been more frequently abusive, you can’t just “ban” the police. Most of them provide life-saving services.
Duke you don’t present any evidence. Over 95% of the studies done don’t show a value to having an SRO.
I didn’t say that at all Sac. I’m all for parents, dads, whatever, coming into schools, volunteering and having a positive influence.
No…Acquiescing to the demands of 14-17 year old’s does not make sense.
Oh and I don’t wish to ban police. I don’t want armed police in schools. Pay a police officer to stand outside in case of a shooting. A resource office “should” not be someone who slaps the cuffs on… I like how people have just given up on society and are glad to accept they drop their kids off at an overrun zoo everyday.
GT – those were your words, not mine.
GT ” I like how people have just given up on society and are glad to accept they drop their kids off at an overrun zoo everyday.” – Does “society” not have rules and those who enforce the rules?
LOL why would someone “disagree” with the FACT that an SRO saved someone’s life? You folks are petty.
Duke, nailed it. thank you.
really? you have data on this from SMHS? Id love to see it, as a parent of two enrolled teens. Do you have kids enrolled at SMHS?
GT- now that (“95% of studies”) is a humorous/ridiculous stat.
GT – so are you saying they’re only putting SROs in schools with large black populations? How do explain SB, SM and DP here in town? Are you saying only 33% of schools with “all white” populations have SROs? And 54%? So what? That means half the high schools with a large black population DO NOT have SROs. How is that evidence of racism? I am EXTREMELY against racism (look at any of my comments), but I don’t think this is evidence that SROs are an instrument of racist policies.
SROs are there to protect our kids. Once again, I ask, who will save students during a life-threatening medical situation? Who will deter fights and weapons on campus? Who will intervene and stop said fights? Who will know how to handle a drug overdose? Who will be able to shoot back in the case of a school shooting? Asking parents or teachers to take on the role of a trained police officer is putting our kids at risk. Sure, many SROs have abused their authority, but we can’t just throw them all out. The benefit outweighs the risk in my opinion. That’s all there is to it.
GT- Where is YOUR data on ANY of these things happening in the SBSD? I mean 95% right? Our schools are predominantly filled with people of color and a large amount of
LGBTQ kids. Please provide ONE example locally. Yeah, thought so.
Zero “GT, good! BC I don’t need some random dude spouting off non sense” Then why are you reading anything on the www internet world wide web crawler that them there Al Gore invented huh with all those socialist communists ?
Sac “GT – so are you saying they’re only putting SROs in schools with large black populations?” I’m done here – I don’t think you’ve read or digested anything I’ve posted. I was never posting to convince you of anything – only to have a conversation. I know you are extremely against racism and have gotten that from previous posts over a long period of time so no need to explain. However – saying “who’s going to keep us safe” and enabling a racist/biased system to continue isn’t an option for me. I’ve always thought rather than paying a resource officer to be stationed just outside the school (front steps even). Call the officer in for the situations you are talking about. Nurses and other trained in certain issues should be inside the school. Include the parental community more in the schools (which is why I brought up the Dad’s group” No one wants to fund anything for schools anyway. They can’t even afford pencils or art supplies – most shop classes they offered when I was in school are gone across the country. Schools don’t have any money and no one seems to really care about education and our schools. Lot’s of folks have opinions about it but many don’t want to actually fund it. Could we at least agree here we each want is best for our children even though our opinons may differ? Have a good night Sacjohn.
Does SB Schools report assault & sexual crimes that occur in school?
Other districts around the country don’t have to report these crimes & they have no onsite RO.
Seems like they are encouraging bad behavior just like the CA criminal system?
That’s kind of a low information way to look at it. Bigger picture – Kids of color, LGBTQ, and those with disabilities have rules enforced differently than whites across the board.
School resource officers are more likely to shoot a student or lose their gun in an altercation than they are to actually help any of the problems the author discusses.
I’ll add that research shows that the presence of SROs is detrimental to the welfare of our children, leading to the increased criminalization of youth for child-like behaviors. In the past 30 years, school resource officers, or SROs, have been placed in thousands of American schools. The job description varies by school district or law enforcement agency, but the Justice Department, which funds many SRO programs, describes SROs as “sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools.” They are supposed to be vigilant protectors, defending innocent children from gang violence and mass shooters. But research indicates that they sometimes act more like armed enforcers, harassing and arresting students for minor disciplinary infractions, especially if those students are not White. Children who should be sent to the principal’s office instead land in jail.
Just curious, of all these parents and children wanting a cop on campus, how many of them are white? School resource officers disproportionately target students of color. Also the “evidence” of why a cop is needed on campus doesn’t make sense. Most of those incidents were reported directly to the police department and not the resource officer. I say save the money, kick the cop out.
GT – that’s BS. Our school resource officer saved a girl’s life during an accidental OD a couple weeks ago. She’d be dead if it wasn’t for him.
““There is just not enough evidence that a [School Resource Officer] prevents gun violence,”” – how do you know how many attacks/altercations have been deterred by the presence of a resource officer on campus? This same logic is applied, conversely, in favor of DUI checkpoints. You say they deter drunk drivers, yet how do you know? Same here, you can’t say cops on campus don’t prevent gun violence, and then turn around and say the absence of DUIs is due to checkpoints.
If you have a crappy resource officer, do better at hiring, don’t just fire them all. Who is going to break up gang fights? Stop drug deals in their tracks? Save victims of medical emergencies? Help students in need who may not feel comfortable going to the police station? If seeing a police officer on campus distresses you, then private school and a gated community is where you should be. Real life can be dangerous, so can school, even in SB/Goleta.
Sac – your anecdotal story doesn’t sway my opinion on all of the research I’ve read on the subject.
Lot’s of research on the subject available to you. Lot’s of evidence pointing to more harm than good.
With that being said – I’m all for the “Dad’s on Duty” concept we’ve been hearing about in the news this week.
And sac – glad this didn’t happen at your school.
https://www.presstelegram.com/2021/10/24/despite-outcries-armed-officers-maintain-presence-at-southern-california-schools/
Sac you can look up the false arrest, pepper spraying 9-year-old’s, arresting 6 year olds – even shootings that SRO’s have been involved with all over the country. Across the country they are criminalizing children.
769 turning this into a racial issue and a nice copy/paste from the media too on your post. lets look at the stats of race of the kids at SMHS. Mostly not white. So you do the math. If you have 100 kids total. 20 are W, 40 are H, 20 are B, and 20 are A, the higher percentage of issues would envelope the highest number of a specific group of kids. Its just math, it’s not a race issue so please stop trying to make it one. Both of my kids attend and their skin color is irrelevant. Do YOU have kids there?
Sorry, but I’m happy to have my tax dollars pay for a cop on campus. SMHS has it’s fair share of problems and needs one stationed there and if you think otherwise, then you must not have kids there nor do you know much of what happens on campus. I do and am very involved.
One shooting by an idiot cop and we ban all resource officers? Yeah, how’s that knee taste?
yeah dads on duty. ok so how many CAPABLE dads don’t work and can hang out on campus? How many of them have training and have taken courses on how to manage kids? How many of them have completed intensive background checks? None? Thought so. And Honestly…if some gang bangers want to roll onto campus, some kids dad isn’t going to stop them, but a cop with a gun will. That cop also has back up, it’s called the police department. What does your dad brigade have? Nothing.
Sac – One time a SRO saves girl’s life during an accidental OD and that is your argument for placing SRO’s in schools all across the country? Numerous incidents with SRO’s. Especially with people of color being arrested. Even young children being arrested, tazed, and gassed. I’m unsure why you are getting upset – google the studies and research on SRO’s – not a lot of evidence in favor.
“Just curious, of all these parents and children wanting a cop on campus, how many of them are white?”
You don’t think people of other races want an officer’s presence on campus? Only white people do? If the school decides to keep the officer on campus, the what race do you want the security officer to be? When I was in high school, our school “resource officer” was Payne Green. Are you curious about his race?
12:26 – Do you have those same statistics, but for crimes committed and populations? Just because one race was arrested more than another, doesn’t mean they were targeted. How many crimes were committed by students in each group?
Sac, I completely see your point of view. It’s a POV that we’ve had for the last 40+ years, but it doesn’t seem to be as idyllic as it’s portrayed. This is a good article that tackles the topic of how useful are police in schools using data. https://www.aclu-wa.org/story/school-resource-officers-when-cure-worse-disease
“… certain student groups are policed disproportionately. This is the case for students of color who are arrested or referred to law enforcement at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts. Moreover, students with disabilities are arrested or referred to law enforcement nearly three times the rate as their non-disabled peers. School officers are also more likely to use force against these groups. Pepper spray, tasers, pain compliance techniques, use of police batons, hitting, kicking, slamming, and choking are all tactics that have been deemed too harsh for detention facilities, and yet, these tactics are used against students in schools.[10]”
The situations on high school campuses where a badge and firearm are needed are insanely low. But the situations where a counselor or social worker are needed are at all time highs. A school resource officer does not have the training, knowledge, and expertise to deal with tardiness, mental health issues, bad grades, and students that mouth off. How many videos do we have to see of cops choking, tackling, and arresting children for minor things like this? Reform with non-police services, see how it goes, and if it gets worse then fine send a cop back in but the data (and students of color) are saying what’s happening now isn’t working.
2:00PM – “what’s happening now isn’t working.” Have you asked any of the students at DP, SM or SB? This is about THIS district, not the whole country. If inner city schools are having issues, that’s up to them. I just don’t see the SROs here in SB/Goleta posing that same risk of abuse, nor have I heard/read any news to the contrary. For THIS town, at these schools, they appear to be a benefit.
Sad there are few continuing to post about racial insensitivity however we can certianly agree to disagree.
Safety has nothing to do with racial insensitivity at least here in SB, Law enforcment here have an outstanding record and have allways been active with our schools in a positive way.
I thought we were beond the de fund crap, I guess not with a few.
If you look at the thousands of reads, thoes people are probably voters already commited to over turning the school board next election.
check this out, vauge post leads to investigation. Glad his contract wasn’t over yet to put all at ease.
https://newspress.com/traffic-crime-and-fire-blotter-304/