Parents Concerned About Violence, Drugs, and Trafficking in and Around LAUSD Schools
Time to Read: 6 minute
They expose that nobody is doing anything to stop the flow of drugs in the educational establishments of Los Angeles
María Baños, a mother of 4 students who attend classes from elementary to high school in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, lives in fear that something will happen to her children.
“I walk my youngest son, who is 7 years old, to the Ricardo Lizárraga elementary school in south-central Los Angeles; my other two children are accompanied by my husband to the bus stop that takes them to Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park; and the oldest 17-year-old goes by bus alone to the charter high school he attends.”
May 1st was a tragic day for LAUSD, there was a double stabbing outside a high school and a suspected multiple fentanyl overdose at a middle school; A few days ago there was a run over that caused the death of a young mother who was taking her 6-year-old daughter to school.
Two 16-year-old boys were stabbed to death at the intersection of Olympic and Rimpau boulevards near Los Angeles High School. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) attributed it to the result of a dispute on campus; and three people were arrested.
In a statement posted on Twitter, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said that all students deserve to go to school free of fear and full of hope.
“We have to work together to provide safe pathways to and from school.”
On April 25, a mother was killed when she was struck by a car while walking with her 6-year-old daughter to take her to Hancock Park Elementary School in the Mid-Wilshire area of ​​Los Angeles.
While the mother died at the scene of the tragedy, the minor was transported in critical condition to the hospital.
Traffic fatalities around schools are common.
Another constant concern is the consumption and overdoses of fentanyl and other drugs.
On May 1, three students were hospitalized for a suspected overdose of an unidentified drug at Johnnie Cochran Middle School in Los Angeles.
The events that occurred on May 1 and April 25 led to a rapprochement between Mayor Karen Bass and LAUSD Superintendent Carvalho, and both promised in a phone call to work together on the school safety crisis to address violence, drugs and trafficking urgently.
“The mayor and I agree that these are the top three causes in our school system and in the community that are putting the lives of young people at risk right now,” Carvalho said.
Mayor Bass said in a statement that in the last two weeks, we have seen near-death overdoses at an LAUSD high school, the death of a mother and serious injuries to her daughter as they walked to school, and a stabbing in the LAUSD school grounds.
“These devastating incidents are unacceptable. Superintendent Carvalho and I talked yesterday about strategies to keep our teachers, students, and employees safe; and together we will host meetings with stakeholders and community members that will focus on safety in and around our schools. We must and will do more."
parental concerns
María Baños says that to prevent deaths from being run over around schools, it could be useful to place speed bumps on the streets so that vehicles slow down.
“I felt a lot of sadness and chills when I found out about the mother who died after being run over. Now I am afraid to drop my daughter off at school, and I ask my children to be very careful when crossing the street. I even tell them that if the cars don't let them pass, let them pass. Many drivers do not respect traffic signals.
He comments that to stop violence inside and outside schools, more cameras and school police are needed.
“Authorities say many parents don't want police in schools, but we're also seeing a lot of lawsuits. My son was hit by a girl, and it was very difficult for me for the school to give me a report that I had to take him to the doctor, and for them not to think that I had hit him.”
And after the recent incidents, he points out that it is now urgent that LAUSD authorities do something.
“There is a lot of insecurity in Los Angeles schools. There are already many things happening”.
Evelyn Alemán, president of Our Voice, an initiative created by and for parents who want a quality education for their children, in which the majority of Hispanic parents participate, says that in July 2019, she and her family requested a meeting with school authorities to discuss drug abuse at Cleveland High School in Los Angeles, where one of his daughters was a freshman.
Among other things, her daughter denounced that she and other classmates could not use the school bathrooms because several students monopolized them to inhale tobacco –vaping– and smoke marijuana.
“School management denied that there was drug use on campus, and yet, at that same meeting, representatives of the school police admitted that drugs are a chronic problem on campus, and that their use has spread to the primaries”.
At that meeting, Evelyn recalls that the mothers and fathers present took the opportunity to vent their frustrations, basically to say that they were very concerned about the safety of their children and felt that LAUSD was not doing enough to protect them.
To address the drug problem in schools, Evelyn on behalf of Our Voic e proposed since 2019:
- An effective monitoring plan for spaces at each campus
- Vigorous education campaigns in schools, starting in primary
- Adoption of results measurement instruments
- Incorporate students, teachers and parents
- Create a system of accountability for the use of state funds aimed at curbing the use of drugs and tobacco in educational centers
And he clarifies that most students are not addicted, but they are vulnerable.
“The schools that should protect them are the place where many get hooked on drugs.”
And he stresses that LAUSD is the second largest school district in the country.
“Three out of four students are Latino. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho claims that the district's schools are the safest in the nation. We know that's not true."
He regrets that when a father dares to report, he is seen as a problem father, and this is very serious when it comes to undocumented fathers. "Our community is completely defenseless."
Four years after making this complaint, Evelyn says that drugs are still being used in the bathrooms and even in the classrooms of Los Angeles public schools, but nobody is doing anything.
“There are no resources to curb drug use, bullying or improve road safety. The house is burning in flames, and our authorities come out with that they are going to have talks when it is time to take action.