Pubdate: Thu, 10 Nov 2005
Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ)
Copyright: 2005 Pulitzer Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23
Author: Shelley Shelton

POOR REPORT CARD

Law Enforcement Incidents Are Up At Both Amphi High School And Canyon 
Del Oro In Recent Years

The number of incidents requiring the attention of local, state or 
federal law enforcement at Amphitheater High School has more than 
doubled each year for the past four years, according to the AZ Learns 
school report cards issued by the state each October.

No other Northwest Side high school has seen a similar spike, 
according to the same reports.

Included in the numbers are instances of bullying, fighting, drug 
use, setting fires in bathrooms and pulling the fire alarm. Amphi 
High School went from having 12 law enforcement incidents in 2002 to 
having 148 this year.

The number of instances of criminal activity at Canyon del Oro High 
School - also in the Amphi district - spiked in 2003, with 74 law 
enforcement incidents, up from 19 the year before. The school has 
more or less held steady since then.

The number at the district's other high school - also its newest - 
Ironwood Ridge, jumped in 2004 to 74, up from 10 the year prior. But 
by this year the occurrences were reduced to less than half that number.

The two Marana Unified School District high schools and Flowing Wells 
High School fluctuate from year to year, but none of them have 
reached 100 incidents in a year.

So what is happening at Amphi?

"The school discovered kind of a hidden nook last year where kids 
were using drugs," said Todd Jaeger, attorney for Amphitheater Public 
Schools and the district's associate to the superintendent. As the 
result of higher enforcement in that area of campus, there were some 
incidents that involved a large number of kids, he said.

In addition, he said, some of the larger numbers are due to the 
addition last school year of a different off-duty Tucson Police 
Department officer patrolling the Amphi campus each day.

More scrutiny leads to more documented criminal activity, inflating 
the numbers over previous years, Jaeger said.

Even so, the district's other high schools - both of which have had 
full-time student resource officers from the Oro Valley Police 
Department working on campus during the years in question - don't 
have the high numbers Amphi High School is experiencing.

Thanks to a Safe Schools grant, Canyon del Oro actually has two 
full-time officers on campus, yet the school hasn't seen 80 law 
enforcement incidents in a single year in the past five years.

By contrast, in the past five years, Marana High School - which has a 
full-time student resource officer paid for by the town of Marana - 
has seen a gradual decline in situations needing police assistance.

Like Jaeger, Marana principal Jim Doty attributes his school's 
numbers to police presence, even though the numbers are dropping in 
Marana High School's case.

Having the officer around "builds a level of trust" between the 
students and the administration, he said.

And having an officer already on campus when situations arise is much 
more effective than calling the police to come to the school when 
there's a problem, he said.

Amphi students say they know there's a criminal element on campus, 
but they don't think adding more officers or a permanent police 
position to the school will affect illicit activities.

"On campus it's cool. But out here it's different," said Carlos 
Samaniego, referring to the area surrounding Yavapai Road and North 
Stone Avenue, just east of the high school.

Samaniego, a 14-year-old freshman who serves on the student council, 
said students must carry weapons or hang around with those who are 
known to do so if they want to feel safe after school. He doesn't 
carry a weapon, but he stays near friends who do, he said.

Erick Bates, a 17-year-old junior, said the only problems that really 
arise are between students who claim gang affiliations or those who 
try to seem tough.

"This year, the gangs have increased a lot. Honor, respect is, like, 
everything around here," he said.

Even so, students wait and take their troubles off-campus after 
school lets out, usually along the strip of East Yavapai just outside 
the campus gates, he said.

"We're not that stupid. We get our groups together and meet. I'm one 
of those people that are neutral but I'm ready to go whenever."

His freshman friend, Alessandra Quevedo, 14, said she feels safe at 
school because "our friends are always there for us." All three said 
no more police presence is necessary on campus, but there are 
probably off-campus fights four out of five days a week.

Another group of friends, all freshmen, have had a different experience.

Jessica Sterrett, 14, said the school had a lockdown recently because 
of gunshots in the vicinity.

"It sucked. We had to walk all the way around to Wienerschnitzel 
(west of the school, on North Oracle Road) to get out of school," she said.

Classmates frequently text-message each other during class to set up 
fights, half of which never come to anything, she said. Other times, 
as soon as the students walk out the school gates onto Yavapai, a 
fight is happening.

"You can't really pay attention to the teacher when everyone's around 
you talking about, 'Oh, there's going to be a fight,' " Sterrett said.

Her friend, Sarah Rooprosales, 14, said there was a fight in the 
hallway outside her English classroom once. Since she's in honors 
classes, she doesn't see as much of that kind of thing, she said.

"We don't fight in honors," she said, laughing.

The girls agreed there are a lot of people who regularly smoke 
marijuana in the bathrooms.

Jaeger said marijuana use has been on the rise across the city.

"Five years ago, it was acid. Then we had high-profile enforcement 
for that, and it's been reduced," he said. "There is drug use in 
almost every segment of our population, really."

The biggest chunk of resources allocated by the school district for 
safety on campus is for security officers and campus monitors, of 
which there are several, Jaeger said. But law enforcement isn't the 
only component to a positive high school experience, he added.

"We often think preventive measures or safety measures only include 
enforcement measures. All the programming in school is intended to 
keep kids engaged in school. The idea is, if you keep kids engaged, 
then they won't be drawn toward these other things."
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MAP posted-by: Beth