School Board Acts To Safeguard Students’ Rights

Also discusses changes in math curriculum

Hannah Heineman
Mirror staff writer

   Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s (SMMUSD) Board of Education approved a uniform procedure that school administrators will follow to safeguard students’ rights when they are questioned by police as either a suspect or a witness.
   The protocol was developed in response to allegations made by Mothers for Justice (MFJ), an organization of Latino and African American parents, that the District routinely violates the rights of students of color when police question students at school sites. Specifically, the group alleged that Latino and African American students are routinely disciplined more harshly than Anglos, students are not told what their rights are, efforts are not made to ensure that they understand their rights, parents are not always called when their children request that they be present during questioning, or are not notified when their children are being questioned or taken to police headquarters.
   On hearing the MFJ allegations, the School Board appointed a 25-member Task Force on Race and Discipline, which included several MFJ representatives, to investigate the charges and develop new procedures.
   Flanked by several other MJF members, Maria Loya told the Board, “The School District and the Board responded very quickly and we appreciate that. We knew the changes needed to happen…so that what had happened in the past wouldn’t continue to occur…[the new protocol] will help ease some of the tensions that we raised…We feel this is definitely a first step. What comes after this I feel is one of the most difficult things, that what we came up with is enforced and enacted. The District needs to have the courage to hold administrators accountable.”
   She went on to say that MFJ “will continue to be vigilant in ensuring that the rights of parents and students are being respected in the schools.”
Board President Julia Brownly said, “We do recognize this as a first step and we have a lot more work ahead of us.”
   The steps in the new protocol are as follows:
   1) Complete the Police on Campus Reporting Form. Fax the completed form to the Pupil Services Office. Retain one copy in an administrative file created specifically for these reports. Do not put copies in student files.
   2) Except in cases of suspected child abuse, call the parents/guardians and inform them that law enforcement officers are on campus, or have been summoned to campus to question their child.
   3) Inform the student of his/her right to have an administrator present during questioning.
   4) Inform the student of his/her right to have their parents/guardians present at any time during questioning.
   5) Inform the student of his/her right against self-incrimination and check for comprehension to insure that the student understands what that means. Students who agree to be questioned may change their minds during questioning, and request the presence of a parent/guardian. This must be construed as the student’s desire to invoke his/her Fifth Amendment rights.
   6) A student’s request to have parents/guardians present must be construed as the student’s desire to invoke his/her Fifth Amendment rights. A student is not required to answer questions after invoking the Fifth Amendment.
   7) If the law enforcement officers decide that the student must be removed from campus, it is the responsibility of the administrator to take immediate steps to inform the parents/guardian regarding the release of the student to the law enforcement officers and the place to which he/she is being taken (except in cases of child abuse).
   8) If it is determined that law enforcement officers must remove a student from campus, it is the responsibility of the administrator to insist that the removal of the student is conducted in such a way that it safeguards the dignity, confidentiality and respect of the student.
   9) Representatives of law enforcement may not have access to student records without written parent/guardian permission, subpoena or court order.
   10) Administrators who believe there has been misconduct on the part of law enforcement officers should file a report with the appropriate law enforcement agency and the Superintendent.
   In other business, the Board discussed a report by the District’s Director of Standards Assessment and Data, Dr. Steven Frankel, entitled, “Data and Its Relationship to Increasing Student Achievement while Simultaneously Bridging the Achievement Gap.”
   Frankel reported that, once again, the 2001-2002 statewide Stanford-9 Achievement Test (SAT-9) results showed that economically disadvantaged students, and Latino and African-American students frequently score far below Anglo and Asian students.
   His report included several ways to close the gaps, including additional instructional hours, stiffening graduation requirements, sponsoring a computer rental/purchase program, reducing class size and eliminating all forms of tracking.
   The report also suggested that math achievement in the District would be improved by the elimination of the current math tracking system in the District’s Middle Schools. The placement of students into accelerated or non-accelerated math classes contributes “to disparities in math performance between Anglo and non-Anglo students … adversely affects college admissions and career planning opportunities and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for many students in non-accelerated classes.” Further, “Parents and students are not informed of the probable long-term effects of placement in the non-accelerated classes and it “virtually precludes completing Geometry in the 9th grade and Calculus in the 12th grade, participating in advanced science courses, entering certain colleges or majors and … competing for some technical positions that do not require a four-year degree.”
   Superintendent John Deasy is recommending a new system at the Middle School level, which would include an honors track and, for non-honors students, double periods of math as well as math summer camps and smaller class sizes. He is also recommending that the classes of 2004 and 2005 complete three years of academic math, the classes of 2006 and beyond complete four years of academic math, and that District high schools offer a wider variety of college-level math electives