Health Survey Shows LCUSD Students Doing Well, But There Are Problem Areas

However, in the area of harassment, Arthur reported that nearly 30 percent of all seventh graders, freshmen and juniors surveyed said they had been harassed because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability at their school within the last 12 months.

Arthur told the board that this is one area that district officials should take a closer look at. District official Jim Stratton called school harassment a "deep concern" for the district. "Something we might focus on is the issue of harassment," he said.

Stratton also commented about the area of school violence. From 12 to 22 percent of the students surveyed said they had been afraid of being beaten up and from 15 to 20 percent said they had been in a physical fight within the last year.

Stratton told the board that he questioned the high number of indicated fights because school suspension figures for fighting don't come anywhere near the survey numbers, he said. Although the question asked if the fight happened on school grounds, Stratton said the students probably added in fights they might have had off campus.

In the areas of harassment and fighting, LCUSD figures nearly matched or were a little higher than state figures for 2001.

The number of students who said they carried a gun on campus two or more times in the past 12 months was less than four percent for ninth graders; less for 7th and 11th graders.

In the areas of caring relationships, high expectations and opportunities for meaningful participation, seventh graders indicated there was a drop for them in these areas from 2002 to 2004 while figures for freshmen and juniors stayed fairly constant.

"When I read the data, I was very concerned. Why is this happening in the seventh grade?" said Arthur. The survey indicated that seventh graders found their teachers and other adults less accessible to them and they also have lower expectations and school participation. Arthur told the board that this was another area the district should look into.

The final area the survey covered was truancy in grades nine and 11. Seventy-six percent of freshmen said they didn't skip school or cut classes in the last year. Fourteen per cent said they missed class once or twice and eight percent said a few times. Only 52 percent of juniors indicated they didn't miss class, with 18 percent missing once or twice and 16 per cent a few times. "Truancy increases as the students get older," Arthur said.

Summing up the survey's results, Arthur told the board, "La Cañada students lead all state students in every category except the category of harassment."

With school starting in just two weeks, district officials will soon have the opportunity to look into the negative elements of the survey first hand.

The next meeting of the LCUSD Governing Board will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. in room 41 at Foothills Intermediate School.