Board Members Present:
Mrs. Barbara M. Boudreaux, Chairperson
Ms. Julie Korenstein

Staff Present:
Mr. Dan Isaacs, Assistant Superintendent, School Operations
Dr. Evangeline R. Stockwell, Assistant Superintendent,
Office of Intergroup Relations
Ms. Ruth Rich, Director, Drug, Alcohol, & Tobacco Education/Comprehensive
Health Education Programs
Ms. Jeri Durham, Administrator, School Operations Division
Ms. Renee Jackson, Cluster Administrator, Fairfax/Hollywood Cluster
Mr. Hasty Arnold, Principal, Santa Monica Elementary School
Mr. Hector Madrigal, Director, Pupil Services
Mr. Michael Guillemet, Coordinating Counselor, Pupil Services and Attendance Branch
Ms. Carolyn Bright, Coordinator, Student Discipline Proceeding

Others Present: (See attached list)

Dr. Shields advised that the health care of the student athletes in the District should be made a priority and because of some of the unfortunate incidents during the past football season, there is a need to evaluate the athletic program. He explained that his team, which includes an athletic trainer, went to five or six high schools to look at the status of an athletic injury treatment program at the schools. The primary person to be involved in the care of the injured athlete is the coach and, in general, the coaches do not have enough training to be qualified. In addition, there is no athletic equipment for injuries such as a trainer's bag for emergency treatment. He noted the situation could be significantly improved if an athletic trainer could be available at other schools; there is a full time athletic trainer at Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools and a student trainer program was also instituted whose participants will follow in the footsteps of the certified trainer and they can take care of some of the minor sports injuries at the schools. He explained that there is a great deal of variance in the amount of care the student athletes in the District receive. He explained that physical examinations were given to the student athletes at Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools over the past two years and it was found some students had congenital problems that had never been diagnosed; some of the students had never been to a doctor.

Dr. Shields recommended that a standardized physical examination for student athletes would be a good start and that certified athletic trainers be at the schools full time. He noted this could have an educational component so students could be exposed to what an athletic trainer does. He suggested that the student athletes' health should be the number one priority.

Mr. Isaacs stated that he and Ms. Durham met with Dr. Shields and a pilot program will be considered for next year for some schools to have athletic trainers. Dr. Shields will attend the February Senior High School Principals' meeting so they will have the benefits of his assessments.

Ms. Durham advised that Dr. Shields will also provide some in-service for the District's coaching staff at no cost to the District.

Miss Gloria Lockhart of the Los Angeles Alliance expressed appreciation to Dr. Zacarias, Deputy Superintendent, and Board President Jeff Horton for their continuous support of the Alliance along
with the support of Board Members. She stated that over the past four years the Alliance has provided parent training, after school programs and community organizing activities like Safe House to almost thirty schools within the District. Referring to the Safe House Program, she said they have been very successful in involving parents as well as the community. First, there was a building of cultural bridges between Armenian and Latino students, which created bonds of understanding of differences and similarities through seminars and cultural celebrations. After that, an effort was made and accomplished to convert Ridgewood Place to a one-way street. Following that, workshops were held on substance abuse prevention, child abuse, self defense for mothers, and a workshop with parents on strategic planning.

Ms. Linda Perez, a parent and community leader, stated that the purpose of the Safe House Program is to keep the children safe from danger when they walk to and from school. She explained that with the approval of the Los Angeles Police Department, parents and local businesses will display a neon orange placard in their windows to indicate to children that it is a safe place to go for help in case of danger. In addition, parent volunteers will accompany the students whose parents are employed and unable to bring the children to and from school. She advised that the parent volunteers wear orange t-shirts so are easily identified by the students.

Ms. Durham advised that she, Dr. Ruth Rich and Ms. Marleen Wong have had three meetings to put together the Task Force that came out of the Call to Action report. She advised that an increase in substance abuse was noted and it was decided this needed more attention. She referred to the Planning Committee composed of representatives from Student Discipline, Mental Health Services, Nursing Services, School Police and Instruction from all three levels. A plan was reached and approved by the Superintendent to move ahead.

Ms. Saltz said it has taken eleven years to create a Zero Tolerance Policy that is consistent for all the schools. One of the problems that concerns all advisors is a lack of implementation at all schools. She referred to an article on Zero Tolerance in the Los Angeles Times newspaper; one of the difficulties in our district is the fact that students are not kicked out of school; the main thrust of the District is "You have broken the law, you are in violation of the State and City laws, but on the other hand, we care about you and we want to give you help." She advised that although the number of students who are in Impact groups has gone up, there is a problem in some of the schools with their interpretation of the Zero Tolerance Policy. She pointed out that the Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest school district in the United States that has a Student Attendance Program.

Following a lengthy discussion by the Committee where they expressed their concern about student use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, Dr. Rich and Ms. Durham responded to their questions and concerns.

OPPORTUNITY TRANSFER PROCESS

Mr. Guillemet advised that about four years ago Ms. Korenstein expressed concern because parents had brought some serious issues about opportunity transfers to her attention and a motion was brought to the Board and passed to overhaul the opportunity transfer bulletin number 65.
A task force was formed to work with parents to insure that proper safeguards were built into the bulletin to address their concerns in terms of protecting the students and parents from what they were claiming were inappropriate opportunity transfers. He stated that the philosophy of opportunity transfers was spelled out indicating that all students belong in their local school and the local school should make every effort to try to resolve discipline problems without the need to transfer students to other schools. Another change in the policy was that the reasons for an opportunity transfer were reduced from 30 to 4. He advised that all opportunity transfers are not for disciplinary reasons, some are for protection and safety, and others are for social adjustment purposes. This would be initiated by a parent or student request.

He pointed out that many students have testified to the task force that had it not been for opportunity transfers that kept them out of gangs or conflict situations at schools, they would have been in serious trouble. He advised that the most troubling act is when District school officials use an opportunity transfer as an alternative to expulsion which the law allows in some instances depending upon the severity of the act. He noted one policy the task force felt was imperative for the opportunity transfer process to be successful is for every school to insure that appropriate training be provided to all staff members that are involved in issuing opportunity transfers. Another important policy of the bulletin is that schools are expected to develop comprehensive intervention or prevention techniques and strategies so that opportunity transfers will be minimized. Referring to the third policy, the District recognizes that multiple opportunity transfers do not serve any purpose.

Ms. Bright advised that her presentation focuses on procedures for implementing opportunity transfers. In-service training is to be conducted so that school site staff know implicitly the District's philosophy regarding using an opportunity transfer as a disciplinary tool and also that school site staff will have a thorough knowledge of policies, procedures and responsibilities that are required. A Districtwide in-service program was conducted this year under the direction and leadership of Mr. Isaacs and Mrs. Coughlin. A group of administrators, including Ms. Bright, Mr. Isaacs and Mrs. Coughlin, did a road show of workshops that dealt almost exclusively with opportunity transfers. She noted that each school, in turn, had the responsibility for conducting extensive in-service training at their school sites so that all of the staff responsible for issuing opportunity transfers are thoroughly familiar with the District philosophy and with the opportunity transfer bulletin.

Ms. Bright noted that the school site procedures that have been established include the following: in all cases every effort must be made to confer with and consider the input of the student's parents. A conference with the parents should be held so that the specific reasons for the opportunity transfer should be communicated to the parents both orally and in writing and the parents must also be informed of remediation measures that have been attempted by the school to improve the student's conduct. There is to be a discussion of the specific school to which the student is to be assigned and most importantly there needs to be a discussion regarding the conditions for the student's return to the issuing school. Appeal procedures are also discussed with the parents to familiarize them with the process.

When the school makes the decision to issue an opportunity transfer, the school where the student is to be assigned is sent documentation including the student's transcripts and a pupil accounting report. A letter is sent to the parents to verify the new school of assignment. There is to be collaboration between the sending and receiving school so that there is assurance that important things occur such as the opportunity transfer is completed in a timely manner as defined in the bulletin, and that the student actually enrolls at the new school. In cases where the student does not enroll, there is to be follow-up with District resources such as staff of Pupil Services and Attendance Branch so the student is not lost between the cracks.

Mr. Madrigal and Mr. Guillemet responded to the questions and concerns of the Committee.