August
27, 2014
Vallejo
Times-Herald
By
John Glidden
Concluding that Vallejo City
Unified School District Superintendent Ramona Bishop did not release
confidential student information when she sent an email containing the last
names of two students to Vallejo's mayor, the VCUSD board, the Solano County
District Attorney's Office and the Vallejo Chief of Police last February, the
VCUSD board Wednesday unanimously approved an official response to the July 8,
2014 Solano County Grand Jury report "Release of Confidential Information
by the Vallejo Unified School District."
In its official response, the
board wrote that "(the VCUSD board) conducted an investigation of those
concerns through an outside investigator and, based upon the investigative
report, concluded that no wrong-doing or improper disclosure of confidential
information (by Bishop) had occurred in February 2014."
The grand jury report stemmed
from a February incident when a minor student was arrested by Vallejo police
for possessing a pellet gun on Vallejo High School grounds and another minor
student was released into the care of high school officials.
After the incident, Bishop sent
the email, which the grand jury found fault with, stating "with the
(VCUSD) official's handling of a serious incident and the release of
confidential information pertaining to minors in violation of Welfare and
Institutions Code 827 governing the dissemination of juvenile
information."
In its response, the board
highlights that the Welfare and Institutions Code 827 deals with "all
records contained in a juvenile court case file, including all documents filed
in a juvenile court case, are protected from disclosure ... The July 8, 2014
Report does not indicate that any court records were inspected, or include that
after inspection that information from those records was disclosed."
The board further writes:
"However, and notwithstanding Welfare and Institutions Code 827, school
district officials are required to maintain the confidentiality of minors'
identities when they are taken into custody by law enforcement."
According to the grand jury
report, "The police arrested one minor for misdemeanor possession of a
replica firearm (pellet gun) on school grounds. The minor was later cited and
released to his parents."
The board response further
explains that "In general, both the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) and the California Education Code define pupil records as any
information directly related to a pupil that is maintained by the school
district."
Board trustee Hazel Wilson said
that once the board was aware of the incident and email, an investigation was
begun.
"Prior to the (grand jury)
report we had done our due diligence," she said.
The board also approved a
response to the June 13, 2014 grand jury report, "Security Impact on
Graduation Rates in Solano County High Schools," in which the grand jury
reviewed all 10 comprehensive high schools in Solano County. However, the report
reserved much of its criticism for the two Vallejo sites, pointing out that
they have higher dropout, truancy and suspension rates than the other eight.
The grand jury recommended the
Vallejo schools have school resource officers to reduce defiance and disruptions
in classrooms.
Citing a Congressional Report,
the district contends that the use of school resource officers may could result
in more children being involved with the criminal justice system
"However, the District
does not view SROs as the only or even primary investment the District can or
should make in ensuring campus safety and decreased dropout rates,"
according to the district response.
In its official response, the
district stipulates that "The District recently implemented a
District-wide disciplinary approach focused on restorative justice where staff
consistently clarify their expectations and enforce a culture of
accountability."
The district further states,
"The District believes strongly that simply "getting tough" in
order to stop misbehavior — often in the form of "zero tolerance"
policies — rarely works, especially with children."
Wilson critiqued the grand jury
for not using information supplied by the district.
"We (the district) sent
binders of information, data, detailed program information (to the grand
jury)," Bishop said during the meeting.
"You (the grand jury) had
the information," Wilson said. "The (grand jury) report does not
reflect the information."
The board agreed to re-agendize
the official responses for the next meeting to allow the general public to
address the board, if desired.
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