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Tag: california school

  • L.A. and O.C. colleges among six California schools that failed to accurately report campus crimes

    L.A. and O.C. colleges among six California schools that failed to accurately report campus crimes

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    Los Angeles and Orange County colleges are among six California schools that failed to comply with federal law by inaccurately reporting on campus crimes, according to a state audit.

    Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles and Orange Coast College were found to have inaccurate or incomplete crime statistics, according to the state’s recently released report of the 2023 school year. The other schools were the University of San Diego, Chico State, Imperial Valley College and UC Santa Cruz.

    “Because of these errors and omissions, current and prospective students, staff and other stakeholders may have an inaccurate understanding of campus safety,” the report stated.

    Mount Saint Mary’s and Orange Coast also failed to comply with federal and state laws because they lacked adequate informational procedures, such as providing desktop manuals that staff can follow when preparing crime reports, and or failing to provide sufficient training on federal law requirements.

    Officials at both schools did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

    Specifically, Mount Saint Mary’s did not track its reportable crime incidents in a central location, which led to the college overreporting 16 of 57 crimes, with an overall error rate of 30%, in the 2022 crime statistics, the state audit found.

    Mount Saint Mary’s and Orange Coast had incomplete daily crime logs. The colleges were missing between 17 and 25 crimes from their daily crime logs out of about 60 crimes the state reviewed for each of the six institutions.

    All the colleges that were reviewed did not disclose to students, faculty and administrators all campus safety policies, emergency response and evacuation procedures, and programs that federal law requires.

    The audit also found that Orange Coast misreported crimes.

    Misreporting occurs when a school correctly identifies a crime but does not report it under the correct category as required by federal law or does not correctly document the location of the crime, the state auditor’s report said.

    The auditor’s review of 60 crimes at Orange Coast found that the school reported two crimes in the wrong federal category, including an incident of hate crime intimidation that was reported as domestic violence.

    “In that incident, a student physically intimidated another student and used derogatory language aimed at the victim’s sexuality while the two were living together in student housing,” according to the report.

    Orange Coast reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Education as domestic violence. However, the state auditor’s review of the case narrative suggests that the institution should have reported the incident as a hate crime of intimidation based on sexual orientation.

    Every three years the California state auditor conducts a review of several colleges and universities to see if they’re in compliance with the Clery Act, officially known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act.

    The Clery Act, established in 1990, is a consumer protection law that requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data as well as safety policies. These educational institutions must publish an annual security report containing statistics related to specific crimes, such as homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults.

    Colleges who receive federal financial aid to record and report campus crime data are obligated to follow the Clery Act and are subject to review by the state auditor.

    How the state auditor determines which colleges to review is dependent on several factors including the number of crimes each institution reported to the U.S. Department of Education, the institution’s geographic location, the type of institution and whether the state auditor had previously audited it.

    Over the past 21 years, the state auditor has consistently found noncompliance with Clery Act requirements at 41 institutions.

    The state auditor’s findings can prompt the Department of Education to issue fines of up to approximately $70,000 for each violation.

    In 2020, UC Berkeley was fined $2.35 million for Clery Act violations and for a lack of sufficient administrative capability to oversee its Clery Act reporting.

    All six institutions agreed with the state auditor’s conclusions and indicated that they will implement the provided recommendations that include establishing procedures for compiling Clery Act statistics and developing procedures that campus law enforcement or security can follow to completely record the daily crime log, according to the report.

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    Karen Garcia

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  • Coroner cites heart defect, extreme heat in boy’s death during P.E.

    Coroner cites heart defect, extreme heat in boy’s death during P.E.

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    There was an excessive heat warning in Lake Elsinore on the August day when 12-year-old Yahushua Robinson — who had been instructed to run — died during P.E. class.

    Now, a coroner’s report has reportedly found that the boy died of a heart defect, with heat and physical exertion as contributing factors.

    The findings by the Riverside County Coroner’s Bureau were announced soon after the introduction of a Senate bill that would create rules for California schools on what physical activities can be allowed during extreme weather.

    The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said deputies went to Canyon Lake Middle School around 11 a.m. on Aug. 29 after receiving a report of a minor needing medical aid. The child was hospitalized and later pronounced dead.

    The high temperature in Lake Elsinore that day was 107 degrees.

    The coroner’s report said “significant conditions” contributing to but not related to the cause of death included “presumptive environmental heat exposure and recent physical exertion,” the San Bernardino Sun reported.

    Yahushua had been sprinting with other students and was seen “bending over and grabbing at his chest,” according to a description of video footage written by Deputy Coroner Myranda Montez, the Press-Enterprise reported.

    Yahushua fell and got back up multiple times and was helped by other students and then by an adult, according to the report. At one point, “it appeared Yahushua became unresponsive,” and the teacher carried him into shade off-camera, the outlet reported.

    The official cause of death was “coronary artery anomaly.”

    The Times reached out to the family’s advocate, Christina Laster, for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

    The California Department of Education has no rules on when severe weather should prompt the cancellation or modification of physical education classes. It leaves the decision to local schools and districts, “with the assistance of other local agencies that monitor air quality and weather.”

    “Unhealthy air quality, extreme temperatures, high winds, etc. may present conditions where it is appropriate to modify activity levels or move PE instruction indoors,” the Department of Education says on its website.

    The California Department of Public Health provides guidance on sports and strenuous activities during extreme heat; however, it’s up to schools to implement the guidance.

    Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) has introduced Senate Bill 1248, or Yahushua’s Law, with the aim of bringing uniformity to how California schools respond to extreme weather when it comes to physical activities.

    In a news release, Hurtado said the bill would require the California Department of Education to develop guidelines for school districts to implement during weather patterns that are potentially harmful to students’ health.

    “No student should ever lose their life on campus to extreme weather when we can take steps to protect them by preparing statewide plans to minimize exposure to the most harmful elements of exposure,” Hurtado said. “I commend the family of Yahushua Robinson … for lending their emotional strength and compassion for others in order to help ensure that no other student loses their life this way.”

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    Karen Garcia, Summer Lin

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