GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking
My daughter, who is taking geometry, tells me that you must test every
proposition for the truth. That is the nature of logic. As I sat at last
week’s meeting, I wondered if the school board needs a geometry refresher
course.
In Newport Beach, $199,000 of our tax dollars each year will go toward
supplying two uniformed police officers to those hotbeds of criminal
activity: Ensign Middle School, Corona del Mar High School and Newport
Harbor High School.
The money pays for two uniformed officers to be on campus for four
10-hour days each week. One officer will be assigned to Newport Harbor,
and the other will split his or her time between Ensign and Corona del
Mar. This money also will provide a patrol car and equipment, and these
officers will not eliminate any of the current security personnel.
The school district is picking up about $87,500 worth of the cost per
year, and the city will pick up the rest. You’re not supposed to mind
about the district’s contribution because it isn’t coming from the school
district’s general fund. It is coming from a state block grant to prevent
school violence.
Gee, and I thought it was my tax dollars, no matter what the pot was
labeled.
The agenda report did make clear that there is not really any crime at
these three schools. If you will recall, my July 15 column discussed the
crime statistics reported by our district schools. A new law requires
schools to keep track of and report crimes on campus. Corona del Mar High
reported no drug or alcohol related offenses, and Newport Harbor High
only reported seven for the year.
Yet the contract calls for the officers to teach Drug and Alcohol
Resistance Education classes at the high schools. In addition, they will
serve as a resource to school employees on law enforcement-related issues
and act as liaisons between the city and the district. At their
discretion, the officers may patrol the campuses, and they may
investigate crimes that occur on or near the high schools. There is no
way built into the contract to judge their performance.
What are we supposed to get for this $199,000, and how do we know if we
got it? The school board members articulated these goals:
1. The officers will teach DARE classes at the high school level. When I
pointed out that the only statistical data on the DARE program shows that
kids are no more likely to stay off drugs whether they have been through
the DARE program or not, some board members said this wasn’t the sort of
thing where you needed data. It just felt right. So, I don’t suppose our
district will be ascertaining the effectiveness of the classes using the
scientific method.
2. The officers will be there to train teachers to spot the signs of drug
abuse. I imagine it could be accomplished in a one-hour teacher training
meeting per school site. And does this mean the police haven’t offered
this before?
3. The officers can recruit students into the field of law enforcement.
While this is worthy, doesn’t it hold true for a lot of other jobs?
Should we fund positions for nuclear physicists or naval officers to work
on campus so students can be recruited for these positions? How about a
branch of the Daily Pilot?
4. The officers may patrol the school campuses. Can’t, and shouldn’t,
police patrol all of the property in the city when it is necessary for
residents’ protection? Should the schools pay extra for it?
5. The officers can find out what is happening in the neighborhood, and
maybe stop crimes from happening. While it is nice that the police will
have an office on campus to build up their own cadre of student narcs,
why are my school tax dollars being used for it?
6. We can prevent crimes before they happen. Yeah, and we can lessen that
crime statistic of zero drug and alcohol crimes at Corona del Mar High
School.
Why are the officers working 10-hour shifts at a school that is in
session for about seven hours, I asked? Because of the police officers’
bargaining contract, the chief said. While I understand about bargaining
contracts, I don’t see why a police officer couldn’t be on campus for
five hours a day and work regular patrol for the other five. That makes
better use of our tax dollars. No one asked what benefits will flow to
the school district by having the police on campus during holidays and
vacations.
I have a problem with making our schools look like prisons. I’m afraid
that if schools look like prisons, kids will feel like prisoners. We
already have civilian security guards and drug-sniffing dogs. In
February, the Newport Beach secondary schools will have a branch of the
police department on campus. Next, we will surround our schools with high
fences topped with barbed wire. There will only be one way in and out,
which will require entrance through a metal detector. How is that
physical site any different from a prison? Do you believe our
neighborhood schools are that unsafe? With all of these “safety
measures,” will students be able to concentrate on learning?
I know there are crazy people out there, but we can’t build our lives
around the crazies. Otherwise, we all need to be in full body armor.
Let’s take the money we spend on school police in Newport Beach and use
it to build a skateboard park on a Costa Mesa high school campus. Then,
let’s see which school has kids who feel less alienated. Let’s see which
causes the biggest decrease in school crime and neighborhood crime.
Let’s ask for accountability for our tax dollars.
By the way, the vote on spending your tax dollars in this way was 7-0.
GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs Mondays.
She can be reached by e-mail at GGSesq@aol.com.
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