Santa Barbara County Grand Jury • 2025-2026 • Agency Response
Response to: Gangs of Santa Barbara County: Should the Schools Do More to Address Them?

Cusd*

4 pages
Ver PDF original

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F4

Findings 6 findings

F1 Page 1
Many student fights occur in the areas surrounding school campuses before and after school hours, outside school supervision, leaving a gap in County schools' responses. Disagree for Carpinteria Unified. School rules apply to all students during their travel to and from school. Site administrators issue swift disciplinary consequences for any violations, including fighting. Detailed conduct and discipline guidelines are outlined in the District's "Annual Notification of Rights and Responsibilities to Students and Parents/Guardians." Every parent or guardian must review this document and sign acknowledgement of receipt before the beginning of the school year. Additionally, CUSD has a strong partnership with the local Sheriff Deputies who immediately respond to any violence including student fighting in our community. CUSD provides extensive youth engagement with before/after school programs TK-8, and by partnering with Boys & Girls Cub, Girls Inc., Surf Happens, Kids Cooking, PUSH Project (skateboarding), REEL Anglers (fishing), and SB County Children's Creative Project (art, music, drama, dance) for after school programs for students TK-8. During school breaks, CUSD partners with United Way to provide daily enrichment activities, 8-6pm. More than 85% of Carpinteria High School students participate in after school sports and extra curricular activities ( Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Theater (MUSES). 1400 Linden Avenue • Carpinteria, California 93013 • Tel: (805) 684-4511 • Fax: (805) 684-0218 • www.cusd.net Committed to quality education for all. Aliso School • Canalino School • Summerland School • Carpinteria Middle School • Carpinteria High School
F2 Page 1
When children lack a set structure to occupy their time on constructive activities outside of regular school hours, they become vulnerable to recruitment from criminal street gangs. Disagree partially for Carpinteria Unified. Family ties drive most gang affiliation among Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD) students. To counter this, CUSD provides extensive youth engagement with before/after school programs TK-8, and by partnering with Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc., Surf Happens, Kids Cooking, PUSH Project (skateboarding), REEL Anglers (fishing), and SB County Children's Creative Project (art, music, drama, dance) for after school programs for students TK-8. During school breaks, CUSD partners with United Way to provide daily enrichment activities, 8-6pm. More than 85% of Carpinteria High School students participate in after school sports and extracurricular activities (Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Theater (MUSES).
F3 Page 1
Gangs are increasingly grooming and recruiting students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools, yet many anti-gang programs focus on older students. Disagree partially for Carpinteria Unified. See response to Finding #2. In addition to extensive youth engagement in before/after school enrichment programs , CUSD implements a robust social emotional curriculum, Second Steps, in the elementary schools, and partners with AHA to provide social emotional learning (SEL) programs in middle school. School counselors and Family Service Agency(FSA) Mental Health therapists provide direct, highly accessible social-emotional and mental wellness support to students and their families. CUSD partners with the Family Resource Center at the Carpinteria Children's Project to provide mental wellness support and parent education to our school families. CUSD also partners with the Council on Alcohol and Drug Prevention (CADA) to pair adult mentors with students at the elementary, middle, and high schools.
F5 Page 1
Students who bring guns, knives, and other weapons on campus, even when provided by parents for their children's safety, pose a threat to school safety. Agree for Carpinteria Unified.
F6 Page 1
Anonymous communications systems, both digital programs and physical drop-boxes, when made available to school students and personnel, can help identify gang activity ahead of serious consequences. Agree for Carpinteria Unified. Carpinteria Middle School utilizes an anonymous "Report a Concern" Google Form that all students have access to. Additionally, all students have access to school counselors where they can safely and confidentially share any concerns with a trusted adult.
F7 Page 1
Socially isolated students can benefit from engagement with responsible mentors as a deterrent to negative manipulation by outside influences, such as gangs, social media, or other ongoing stresses in family life. Agree for Carpinteria Unified. The District partners with the Council on Alcohol and Drug Prevention (CADA) to provide adult mentors for elementary, middle, and high school students.

Recommendations 6

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.