In Pajaro Valley Unified, parents ask: How much power should police have in schools?

Parents and trustees of Pajaro Valley Unified School District are raising concerns about the powers that school resource officers have to arrest and question students on high school campuses, as the district works to hammer out an agreement with law enforcement agencies ahead of the start of the school year in less than two weeks. 

However, local law enforcement agencies say that much of their work in schools is nuanced, strictly governed by state law, and ultimately helps many students avoid entering the justice system.

The district last month renewed contracts with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and the Watsonville Police Department to keep school resource officers in its high schools during the upcoming school year. But officials are still working with the agencies on finalizing the details of how and when officers can engage in student discipline. 

The draft agreement, or memorandum of understanding (MOU), describes when officers can arrest, or charge, students during school hours, including strict limits on when they can charge them. The draft presented at the meeting said officers are prohibited from engaging in or initiating student discipline at school except in several scenarios: when a student brandishes a knife, a victim presses charges, or a student has a firearm or explosive or sells a controlled substance. It calls arrest on campus “a last resort,” saying such interactions should happen off campus, when possible, “to preserve student dignity.” 

The district aims to complete the MOU before students return to school Aug. 13, though the board of trustees isn’t scheduled to meet again until Aug. 20.

At a board meeting last week, concerns about on-campus arrests and how and when parents are notified that their child has been involved with law enforcement at school found support from Trustee Misty Navarro.

“If students are being cited without parents being notified, or students [are] being questioned outside the purview of their parents, those are really egregious things I think that we need to address,” she said. “So I would like to see some specific data on that.”

Law enforcement officials defended their practices and explained their procedures in interviews with Lookout, saying some of the community concerns reflect a misunderstanding of how school resource officers are allowed to operate in and near high school campuses under state law. 

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office stations a full-time deputy at Aptos High School, while the Watsonville Police Department assigns part-time officers to Watsonville and Pajaro Valley high schools, with plans to make these positions full-time. The department is still finalizing an officer placement for Watsonville High. 

Sheriff’s Lt. Nicholas Baldrige, who oversees deputies at schools, said he had reviewed the draft MOU agreement but the sheriff’s office has not yet submitted its formal input. He expected the agreement to change a bit before it’s finalized. During an interview last week, he said the rules for when an officer is allowed to initiate discipline or issue a citation were “very limiting.” He mentioned that sexual assault wasn’t listed in the initial draft, for example. 

“There’s a lot of factors that could play in there that aren’t captured,” he said. “Being limited makes it very difficult when those situations arise, and we want to be on the same page that we’re providing them with the service that they want.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, district officials said that sexual assault was an exception that would be added to the draft MOU. 

Enforcement involving juveniles requires a nuanced approach, said Watsonville Police Cpt. Radovan “Mish” Radich, who oversees the department’s school resource officers. 

State law creates distinct procedures for students under 18, who are considered minors, and those who are 18 and above, who are considered legal adults, Radich said.

When police issue a citation to a student 17 and younger, an officer or a school official must inform the student’s parents or guardians. Radich said parents are informed within an hour, on average. Police typically don’t contact a parent or guardian of a student who is 18 or older, though school district officials will notify families, he said. Students younger than 18 require an attorney present during any police questioning, he said, while those 18 and older do not.

The state’s education code extends a school’s jurisdiction to wherever students might be as they travel to and from school – not just when they are on campus.

If a student gets into trouble while walking to school, they can be cited by a school resource officer, Radich said: “If I’m going home, same thing. If it’s a Saturday and there’s no school and I get in a fight, the school can’t discipline you for that fight.”

That was the case during a fight among several Pajaro Valley High School students last year. A student pressed charges against three other students, and a school resource officer handled the case because it was under the school’s jurisdiction to protect the students. 

“They were cited and released at school,” Radich said. Parents of all the students were notified about the citation, including the parents of one student who was 18.

During last week’s board meeting, some people expressed concern about students being cited at school without their parents present.  

“Our students are being taken out of class and are being cited on campus without a parent present. These are minors,” said Omar Dieguez, a mentor with Barrios Unidos, which supports youths and families. “They cannot make decisions, they don’t know what they’re signing, what they’re getting questioned about, and stuff like that. So there needs to be a policy in place to protect the students. There should never be any minor being questioned by any adult.”

Radich said these concerns need to be addressed but that he thinks handling an incident as soon as possible – often when at school – is the best route. 

“That’s something that needs to be worked out. I personally don’t see why there’s an issue citing them at school,” Radich said. “They’re already there. If we can handle something when it occurs, it’s the best time to handle it, versus following up later, or chasing them around town.”

When citations are issued for a first-time offense and misdemeanor, police officers typically educate the students that they are eligible for a program to get the citation expunged — known as diversion. 

The Watsonville Police Department launched a diversion program in 2012 called Caminos Hacia el Éxito, or Paths to Success. Youth between the ages of 12 to 17 who have been arrested within Watsonville city limits and who opt into the program can participate. 

If students follow through with the requirements, which include community service, counseling and case management meetings, they can prevent their case from being sent to the Santa Cruz County Probation Department. Completing the program means the arrest or citation is “completely gone” from a student’s record. 

Of 501 youths who have completed the program since 2012, 458 have not reoffended — a 91% success rate. The County Office of Education, in partnership with local law enforcement and youth services organizations, recently launched a similar program inspired by Caminos for youth across the county, called ASCEND. 

Radich said during this past year, eight students were cited between Watsonville and Pajaro Valley high schools. Seven of the citations were for battery — hitting someone — and one was for possession of a knife. All were misdemeanors. Several of those cases were sealed or expunged because the student had successfully completed the diversion program, Radich said.

“We try to do everything we can to keep that kid out of the criminal justice system,” he said. 

Some community members have opposed placing police officers in schools. But Radich argues that school resource officers, who build daily relationships with students, are less likely to make arrests than patrol officers responding to emergency calls.

“For a lot of things, if you have a patrol officer respond [to a school], it might turn into arrest,” Radich said. “Where a school resource officer has a little bit more discretion to work with a student, they have more time to work with a student because they’re there. So they can divert the student without creating charges against the student.”

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