DRUG AND ALCOHOL CRIMES UP 16% AT COUNTY SCHOOLS

Education: The Trend Tops Statewide Averages for the Third Straight Year,
Alarming Local Officials.

Crimes involving drugs and alcohol on Ventura County campuses jumped 15.9%
last school year, topping the statewide average for the third straight
year, a report released Thursday shows.

Education leaders say the trend is a disturbing one to which all
administrators, teachers and parents should pay attention.

"It's just totally unacceptable that we have numbers above state averages,
and now the numbers are even growing from previous years," said Charles
Weis, Ventura County superintendent of schools. "I would call for a
communitywide effort to look at this issue and come up with new solutions,
because obviously the old programs are not getting the desired results."
According to the annual California Safe Schools Assessment, for every 1,000
students in Ventura County last year, 4.96 were arrested for drug or
alcohol offenses, compared with 4.30 per 1,000 students statewide.

That means local students were more likely to be caught drinking alcohol
and using or selling illegal drugs last year than their counterparts across
California, which saw a 7% rate increase in drug and alcohol offenses last
year.

Battery Arrests Increase 17%

The number of student arrests for battery also increased countywide, by
about 17%, from 268 in 1999-2000 to 314 last year. That trend also was
mirrored statewide. The rate of crimes against people, including battery,
assault and sexual offenses, jumped 16% from the previous year across
California. Battery was the most commonly reported incident in that
category, rising by 18% to 4.58 per 1,000 students.

"The highest rate by far occurs during the middle school years when peer
pressure, bullying and other social conflicts can result in the
disengagement of our students," Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of
public instruction, said in a statement.

One district that saw a sharp increase was Oxnard Elementary, where battery
arrests went up from 25 in 1999-2000 to 36 last year.

Supt. Richard Duarte said violence on the district's elementary and middle
school campuses is something teachers and principals are working on daily.

"Unfortunately it's indicative of what's going on in society in general,"
Duarte said. "Children are exposed at a much earlier age to incidents of
violence and settling problems physically. That shows in these numbers."

Offenses in other categories--including assault, sex offenses and property
crimes--were well below state averages, and in many Ventura County
districts the numbers went down from the previous year.

But Weis said the drug and alcohol figures are nonetheless disheartening in
a county where students regularly perform better academically than their
peers throughout the state.

"Teaching kids math and science, and how to be outstanding speakers and
writers, is great, but if they ruin their lives by using alcohol and drugs,
it's all for naught," he said.

During the school year that ended last June, 694 students out of 139,808
countywide were arrested for possession, sale or use of alcohol or illegal
drugs, up from 599 the previous year.

The increase is more than double the hike that local schools saw between
1999-2000 and 1998-1999, when arrests went up about 6.5%. Since the state
began collecting campus crime data in 1995, the rate of drug and alcohol
crimes has gone down in the county, from 5.01 offenses per 1,000 students.

However, since 1997, arrests have climbed because the overall number of
students has grown.The data, compiled by the state Department of Education,
show the highest rates of drug and alcohol crimes in Ventura County
occurred on Oxnard and Santa Paula high school campuses.

Many other districts also showed increases in drug and alcohol offenses
from the previous year.

In the Simi Valley Unified School District, drug and alcohol arrests rose
from 72 in 1999-2000 to 92 this year, up nearly 28%.

Some Districts Turn to Prevention Programs

Bob Rizzardi, director of secondary education, said he hopes two new
research-based prevention programs--one for middle schools and one for high
schools--will help combat the problem.

"We know there are drugs and alcohol on our campuses, and our goal is to
eradicate it ultimately," he said. "Even if we were moving in the right
direction it is not good enough. Until the numbers are zero we will
continue to make an effort.

"We're talking about kids' lives here."

State crime rates are based on reports from 1,043 school districts and
county offices serving more than 6 million students from kindergarten
through 12th grade.

Many local education officials attributed the increases to better reporting
rather than an actual rise in crime on their campuses.

Times staff writer Erika Hayasaki also contributed to this story.