Junior high schools see increase in violence

BY HANNAH GUZIK
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Suspensions and expulsions at local junior highs — particularly for violence and bringing weapons to school — have substantially risen in the past year, recently released Santa Barbara School Districts data shows.
The school statistics give a pointed picture of youth violence in Santa Barbara, a city that has seen a slate of stabbings involving young teens this year.

Due in part to administrative efforts to use other forms of discipline and a lower enrollment, the number of high school students suspended or expelled in the 2006 through 2007 school year declined over the previous year.
“Go back two years and you will see that there has been an increase at the junior high schools,” said Michael Gonzalez, Director of Compliance and Categorical Programs
Thirty-five junior high school students were recommended for expulsion last school year, up 40 percent from the previous year, according to a report released last week, prepared by Gonzalez. During the 2006 through 2007 school year 951 junior high students were suspended, up about 44 percent over the previous year.
Disruptions or defiance, fighting and possession of dangerous objects (usually knives) all increased among junior high students and were among the most common reasons for formal discipline, Gonzalez said at the last Santa Barbara School Districts board meeting.
The up tick in the number of suspensions and expulsions is especially significant because of declining enrollment district wide, said School Board President Nancy Harter.
“As a board member I would really like to know what’s going on,” said board member Annette Cordero.
“Law enforcement would share with you an increased concern about younger students getting involved in dangerous behavior and these numbers bear that out,” Gonzalez responded.
“We are concerned and we’ve been saying that for a couple of years,” said Lt. Paul McCaffrey, spokesman for the Santa Barbara Police Department. “The demographics of gang members have changed so that younger kids are getting involved.”
“The best example of this is the arrest of (Ricardo) Juarez who’s 14 for the murder of (Angel) Linares who’s 15.”
Juarez was arrested after a gang melee on State Street in March that left Linares dead.
“That’s the best example recently of kids at that age group being willing to participate in gang activity, in being willing to carry weapons and being prepared to use them.”
Santa Barbara Police recently upped their presence at local schools, Lt. McCaffrey said.
“For the past three and 1/2 or nearly four years we’ve had one school resource officer assigned to all the schools. But about a month ago we decided we needed to increase that from one to two officers, whose fulltime assignment is to work with the schools.”
“We have seen increased incidences of violence, fighting and kids carrying weapons. There are concerns about theft, intimidation and graffiti,” Lt. McCaffrey said.
School board member Bob Noel said other district surveys show that many incidents involving violence, intimidation and weapons on campus go unreported.
“It suggests that there are many undetected instances of weapons on our campuses and many unreported instances of threat and intimidation.”
In contrast, high school expulsions fell about 28 percent and suspensions dropped about 38 percent. Despite the decline, more students are still expelled or suspended in Santa Barbara School Districts’ high schools than in junior highs, due in part to the fact that the high schools generally have more students enrolled.
Consistent with previous data which shows a low rate of expulsion amongst elementary school children, only one elementary school student in the district was recommended for expulsion last school year.
Officials hope they can curb the increase in youth violence and protect kids from influences like gangs that encourage aggressive behavior.
“Our goal though is to get involved in intervention,” Lt. McCaffrey said. “It’s our obligation to work with the schools to keep kids safe. Percentage-wise it’s a small number of kids who are causing these problems, but you can see how a handful of kids can really cause a lot of problems for schools.”