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 [email protected].