Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 20 2005

School hate crimes spike

LAUSD police report that incidents have quadrupled in past decade

By Naush Boghossian and Lisa M. Sodders, Staff Writers

Hate crimes in Los Angeles’ public schools have surged more than 300
percent over the past decade — the highest growth rate of all campus
crimes, fueling concerns about racial tensions in the nation’s
second-largest school district.
Nearly all of the 52 hate crimes reported in the 2003-04 school year
were racially motivated, up from 12 in 1995-96, according to the
latest figures available from Los Angeles Unified School District
police.

In recent months, officials have continued to grapple with
race-related issues, including a spate of high-profile campus brawls
at Jefferson and Taft high schools and an e-mailed threat of
race-related gang violence that kept hundreds of kids out of dozens
of schools.

While some civic leaders fear that the tensions could spread into the
broader community, school officials say it is simply a reflection of
stresses that already exist in the community.

“It’s always been there, but schools are getting more diverse and
ethnic tensions are growing and we have to deal with it. But there’s
so much ethnic conflict in the city. If we don’t get together and
talk about this in a responsible way, we’re going to be the lesser
for it,” said Sheila Roth, student cabinet adviser at Taft High
School, where fights in May prompted a massive police response and a
campus lockdown.

“And, what do you expect when you throw 3,700 kids in a school
designed for 2,400?”

Officials note that it’s not just race-related incidents that are
increasing. According to LAUSD crime statistics, weapons possessions
rose 18 percent in the last three years, to 646 in 2003-04;
robbery/extortion arrests rose 35 percent, to 345 last year;
loitering/trespassing arrests increased by nearly 26 percent to 545.

District officials attribute the increases partly to better
reporting. But they also have moved to make school safety a priority.

“I think there are some ethnic and cultural tensions, and those
emanate in the community, oftentimes in the homes. It’s a school’s
job to do the best they can to defuse that kind of attitude and
that’s what we have to work on and we have to work on it with other
agencies,” said LAUSD’s Chief Operating Officer Dan Isaacs.

“Our schools are much safer than the communities in which they rest,
but we want to address the issues that occur in society and
oftentimes spill over into our schools.”

Superintendent Roy Romer has authorized $3.7 million over three years
to increase school police staff by 30, and $4.3 million to add more
than 130 safety aides to assist with supervision programs at
secondary schools.

The district is working on a systemwide discipline policy and has
established “safe zones” around some schools to combat gang violence.
Efforts also are set for elementary and middle schools, where the
district wants to teach students about cultural and ethnic
sensitivities and how to resolve disputes better.

LAUSD reflects a national trend of rising campus violence, said
Delbert Elliott, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention
of Violence at the University of Colorado.

There were 48 reported school deaths — including suicide and
homicide — in 2003-04 — the highest number ever recorded, Elliott
said. That compared with 17 in 2001-02 and 16 in 2002-03.

The number of students involved and injured in fights also is up, as
well as students being threatened or injured by a weapon.

“It looks like we’re seeing a reversal of trends. We saw a bottoming
out in 2001, but there’s not only more homicides, more fights, more
injury, and carrying a weapon is going back up again,” Elliott said.
“The evidence is pretty clear that we’re seeing escalating levels of
violence at elementary and secondary schools. So something’s going on
that’s creating very, very high rates of very serious violence.”

Overcrowding and increasingly diverse campuses are seen as key
factors for the rising tensions, according to parents, teachers and
students.

The national average of students per teacher and counselor is 16 but
in many LAUSD schools it’s more than 25 students per teacher, said
John Rogers, associate director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy,
Education and Access.

LAUSD is in the middle of a $14 billion construction program designed
to ease overcrowding, but some schools still are bursting at the
seams. California recommends 45 students per acre in secondary
schools — but many LAUSD high schools have many more, including
Jefferson High with 206 students per acre.

“The high rates of overcrowding in many schools in LAUSD and a number
of other opportunities create a climate where there are no strong
relationships between young people and adults like teachers and
counselors,” Rogers said. “And you’re packing in so many students in
one space, you’re demanding young people to negotiate their personal
space with others on an ongoing basis.”

Rogers believes a key to preventing such race-related tensions is to
make the multiracial character of the student body part of what is
studied at school and to get the community involved in leading by
example.

As officials wrestle with safety issues, some students say the fights
have simply been random, with racial tensions not playing a
significant role.

Catalina Araneda, 18, of Grant High School said that after four years
at the school, though, she may have just adjusted to the environment.

She remembers when as a freshman she thought the tension was
palpable, with Armenians and Latinos in their designated turfs on
campus.

“I don’t know if I’ve grown accustomed to it, but I think if people
actually take the time to get to know people, then there wouldn’t be
any tension,” Araneda said. “I’m Hispanic and I have Armenian
friends.”

But Grant freshman Sheldon Flores said he feels racial tensions are
definitely growing.

“More people of different races are coming to this school, and
they’re starting fights and stuff,” said Flores, 15, who’s black.

School board President Jose Huizar believes the district has a
responsibility to be better prepared to prevent large-scale fights.

Ethnic tensions have always existed, but not at this intensity and
frequency, Huizar said — a problem that could spill into the
community if left unchecked.

“The bigger question is: Is this a prelude to what the city of Los
Angeles will be facing in the next five to 10 years — these same
types of issues on the city streets?” Huizar said. “We need to help
them deal with the issues at schools or the city has to prepare
itself.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress