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Officers return to Ventura high schools
They'll be present full time on the campuses
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Photo by Jason Redmond
Ventura High School Assistant Principal Charles Cornwell, left, and Ventura Police Officer Greg Knupp assist freshman Arthur Brunbender, 14, on the first day of classes at the campus Tuesday morning.
Photo by Jason Redmond
Ventura Police Officer Greg Knupp, from left, speaks with campus supervisors Paul Rodriguez and Tom Doler at Ventura High on Tuesday. It has been four years since police officers patrolled Ventura's high schools full time.
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More from County NewsAfter a four-year hiatus, police officers returned full time to Ventura high schools as classes began Tuesday in the district.
Uniformed officers were a regular sight on Ventura Unified School District campuses years ago. At one time, as many as five were assigned to schools and paid for by various grants, said Superintendent Trudy Tuttle Arriaga. The grants dried up, however, and the school resource officer program was cut.
City and school officials came together last year and decided to share the cost — about $490,000 — of putting three Ventura Police Department officers on campuses this school year, including operating costs.
"It's going to be safer," sophomore Nancy Davil, 15, said as she left Ventura High School on Tuesday. "It wasn't dangerous" before, she said, but having an officer on campus will keep things from getting out of control.
The three officers are assigned to keep the peace, enforce the law and build relationships with students and staff, according to the plan.
Ventura and Buena high schools will get their own officers, and the third will be shared by the smaller Pacific and Foothill Technology high schools, said Sgt. Tim Turner, who oversees the program. They also are expected to spend some time at the middle schools.
Officer Greg Knupp, assigned to Ventura High this year, began working with the schools in January, also through a cost-sharing agreement. But the only officer for all the campuses, Knupp spent most of the time "putting out fires," he said. This year, he expects to have more time to focus on preventing problems.
Both the Ventura and Ojai unified school districts started the school year on Tuesday, and officials reported a smooth opening day.
On some campuses, the districts saw more students than expected. Attendance numbers won't be available for several days, but Arriaga said she was watching Buena High School's numbers carefully, where enrollment was about 2,100 on Tuesday, about 150 more students than expected.
Arriaga said campuses reported getting more students who previously attended private schools, which could be caused in part by the declining economy.
Arriaga lauded the return of police officers on campuses, saying, "Our goal is to provide as many resources as we possibly can to ensure safety."
The high schools don't have a big problem with crime, Turner said, but they do have their fair share of fights and drugs.
Officers can act as a deterrent, respond to problems quickly and "hear a lot of what's going on among the students," Turner said. Without such contact, he said, "we don't get that same quality of information."
Posted by dwilson on August 20, 2008 at 6:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My son just started yesterday at Buena. He has one classroom that is the size of a large school bathroom and has over 30 students in it...English. Not a good environment to learn. And there were 3 fights on campus. I'm so grateful for the police presence this year.
Posted by opns on August 20, 2008 at 6:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just curious - does Oxnard have officers in their jr and high schools?
Posted by Ms_California on August 20, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dwilson,
I attended and graduated from Buena HS and I can't think of any class that would have been that small. Not to mention the English courses I had were all located in one general area and they were all regular sized classrooms. Even the portable classrooms were good sizes. We typically had 35 kids to a class before they dropped the class sizes down. I would be interested to know where his classroom is located on campus.
Posted by handyhood on August 20, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Call me an old,old man, but when I went to High School we didn't need a full time police presence! Yes there where fights ( I was even in a few), but that is the nature of the beast. The world is changing and not for the better. Parents can sue for their own failures as parents. Gays can marry and if you don't beleive ( as a christian ) that homosexualty is right, you can be charged with a hate crime. Handguns are so easy to obtain that people are shot just for robbery. Guns are carried by teens and pre-teens who associate or are members of street gangs. The list goes on and on. Where are we headed? End of times people, end of times.
Posted by opns on August 20, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, Mr. Handyhood, very well put. End of times - Let it Come. And all the Angels said....
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on August 20, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
handyhood
It is not WHEN you went honey, it is WHERE you went.
I am glad to see they have officer's on campus.
Posted by opns on August 20, 2008 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LivinInPoorMansPV -
He said, "( I was even in a few)", a few means more than two, and that was just him. Not to speak of the others, i would think, huh.....
So i guess that would answer the 'where' part of your comment.
((That made sense, yeah it did.))
Posted by handyhood on August 20, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
livinpoormanspv, I guess since you called me "honey", I should sue for sexual harassment. I mean, seems like that is the thing to do nowdays! I am so glad I am OLD SCHOOL. By the way, I was born and raised right here in Ventura County. Of course that was when CMH was known as Foster Hospital!
Posted by opns on August 20, 2008 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
FOSTER HOSPITAL??? Wow, oh and it's better than being called Bunny... LOL LOL I laugh at my own.
Imagine it - a guy your age, fighting, and being called Bunny... not Honey.
Posted by opns on August 20, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
handyhood - sorry no offense, i'm right around the corner too. This is a different era, and it's so sad what's come to our innocent children - the rotten apples should be taken away along with the rotten parents.
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on August 20, 2008 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oops sorry Handy! I too think I am old school, I graduated in 1985, and there was always an officer at our school. We had to take breath tests before dances etc. My grad class was 2500 students, that is where the where comes in. I highly doubt there were any schools in Ventura County that even had that many students in there entire school back then. Not to mention that I went to school in middle/upper class Palos Verdes, hence my screen name :o)
At my school they didn't wait for something to happen, they were prepared in case something happened. Protect the children, what a concept!
BTW, the kids that got into fights at my school were the JOCKS! They always had to prove something.
OMG that reminds me of when Wally George came to my school for an assembly, talk about police activity! Whoa, those were the days.
Posted by RebelGal on August 20, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Handyhood, I am in compleate agreement with you. Fighting between kids is unfortunatly normal. I used to be that the fights that did break out seemed to carry more honor than they do now. No one brought guns or knives to the fights and when someone was down that was it. At my school we had nuns, not policemen, and I never felt safer than when I was at Santa Catalina. Now, I do know that where you go makes a big difference, but it shouldn't.
It is such a scary world that we live in. I can't put it any other way. My fiance works for the Police department in Santa Barabara and every day I hear the stories of his afternoon. What scares me most is that it is mainly kids now that are murdering and commiting serious crimes. We need to take responsibility for our youth... and where does it start?
At home
Posted by dwilson on August 20, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ms_California,
The class used to be a utility room, and even the teacher is temporary. They had more students than expected and are scrambling to fine room and teachers so they can comply with the manatory class size reduction. Hopefully they will move them into at least a bungalow. I'm going to visit the school next week to see what they plan to do about this.
And Pogmothoin, I wish I had a bathroom that size but I have less money than the school district :)
Posted by camarillomomma on August 20, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cops at school are a good thing! BOTTOM line.
And I remember my class sizes to be about 30-35 students! You figure 30% of them drop out or don't show up half the time so your pretty much still going to get the attention you need in class. What's the student to teacher ratio these days?
Posted by rcole on August 20, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually, School Resource Officers don't do much breaking up of fights. They spend a great deal of time helping harried teachers and administrators deal with troubled kids. Sometimes the troubled kids seek out the cops. More often, it's the schools who bring individuals to the attention of the SROs. Also, of course, there are students in trouble with the law outside of school and SROs work to keep them in school.
All this involves parents, sometimes outlets like our Police Activities League etc.
Now if all this sounds like an overpaid uniformed social worker, well there is a special credibility, special expertise and a special access that trained, experienced police officers bring to kids who are using drugs, flirting with gangs, engaging in petty crimes and yet still coming to school and not lost to a criminal life.
And yes, this helps prevent fights. And expulsions. And wasted lives. And more costs to our criminal justice system. But on campus, our cops play a different role than out on the streets. It's a valuable role and that's why the School District is paying half the cost and that's why the City Council, the Police Chief and I have been pushing so hard to hire more officers.
Prevention is worth a ton of cure.
Rick Cole
City Manager
Posted by 50Luva on August 20, 2008 at 8:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This article makes me feel so fortunate to be at a private school!!
BTW, camdad... so inappropriate!
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