After students and activists protested Friday afternoon outside LA Unified’s Beaudry headquarters, school board members Steve Zimmer, George McKenna and Monica Garcia issued statements about the 1033 program that allowed school police to get excess military weapons from the federal government.

Only one response, from Garcia, seemed to come close to the apology the group had demanded. She wrote: “I regret that LAUSD’s participation in the 1033 program may have caused a lapse in the trust LAUSD was building with many community partners including the Dignity in Schools Campaign. I apologize for any misunderstanding caused by this participation and the perception among some that LAUSD seeks to perpetuate policies of division instead of creating communities that are safe, supportive and successful.”

Eric Mann, executive director of the protest group, said Garcia’s statement “is a start, but it’s not enough.” He added, “We want the school police to be cut by half, it will save the district money. And the statements from Zimmer and McKenna were just insulting.” At the demonstration, Mann thanked Garcia and said, “I believe her letter is a true first step of good faith and is in sharp contrast to the misleading and hostile letter that Steve Zimmer and George McKenna wrote.”

On Friday in anticipation of the protest, school board president Zimmer and McKenna issued a statement reading: “The district has publicly stated numerous times that the Los Angeles School Police Department is no longer in possession of any weapons or equipment acquired through the Military Excess Property Program, commonly referred to as the 1033 program. We respect the many different views surrounding this important issue. We also understand that there has been confusion about this issue and so it is important to reiterate: LA Unified has ended participation in this program.”

The school police have returned the automatic weapons, three grenade launchers and small tank they acquired through the program.

McKenna was chairing the Committee of the Whole meeting last month when the group disrupted it for half an hour. In the statement, McKenna said, “The district will always respect the rights of organizations to peaceably assemble and protest, and we look forward to continuing our important work with all community groups on the many issues of civil rights, immigrant rights and education equity that affect the lives of our children and families every day.”

Mann said, “It’s safer for the schools to not have a school police that has military weapons.” He added that their protests are not yet over.

A new LA Unified police diversion program, which replaces arrests with counseling, is keeping hundreds of students out of the city’s criminal justice system.

“If we didn’t have this program, a lot would have gone into a courtroom and before a judge,” said LAUSD police chief Steven Zipperman, in a presentation yesterday to the district’s school board Successful School Climate: Progressive Discipline and Safety Committee.

In his report, Zipperman cited data showing that more than half of all arrests made by school police at LAUSD are Hispanic males, representing 52 percent of all the offenses recorded in the last school year, according to a new report from the district’s police department. The second largest arrest group is Hispanic girls, at 19 percent.

Together, they account for more than 70 percent of the school arrests from the Hispanic population, a figure generally consistent with the demographics of LA Unified, in which 74 percent of the students are Hispanic.

This is the first time such statistics were compiled, by age, race and kinds of offense.

“Obviously we take a look at the percentages, and we are not that far off from what the actual student population is,” said Zipperman.

The two exceptions, he said, are African Americans and whites.

The district has an 8.4 percent black population, and the arrests of black students were at 21 percent. The district has a 9.8 percent white population in schools, but only 2.8 percent of the arrests are of white students.

Over the 2014-2015 school year, district police issued 460 arrest diversion citations. Of those, 306, or 66 percent, completed their diversion program through counseling and referral programs.

“I think that’s pretty darn good in the first year,” Zipperman said about the success rate of the program. “We are taking look at factors those students not able to complete the program.”

About 7 percent of students failed to comply with the program and were referred to the county probation department; the remaining students are still in the counseling phase of the program, committee members were told.

Committee member Maisie Chin, executive director of the parent organization CADRE, said she was concerned about the race disparities and wondered if there were any success stories the district could promote that would involve African American males.

“I just want to bring that to our attention, we have a chance to lead,” Chin said. “I want to make sure we are looking for our own gaps, and we are rigorous and inclusive, and asking our own questions.”

Michelle King, the chief deputy superintendent who is a member of the committee, said, “This is the perfect opportunity to dig deeper.”

Meanwhile, Zipperman said he was concerned that the proliferation of pot shops and the increasing legalization of marijuana is tougher to explain to youth as a violation of school laws. “It becomes more difficult when society becomes more tolerant,” he said. “Young people look at it as if it’s no big deal and maybe only an infraction. That is the part that will be challenging.”

Half of the arrests are for possession of marijuana, followed by 29 percent for battery, 10 percent for vandalism, 5 percent for fighting and 4 percent for a minor in possession of alcohol.

Board member Mónica García, the committee chair, said “I’m concerned about drug use. I think we have big challenges.”

The largest number of offenders, 39 percent, were 15 to 17 years old; 34 percent were 13 to 14; 18 percent were 12; 6 percent were 11, and 3 percent were 10.

Among those aged 12 and younger, most offenses were for battery, then marijuana possession, then vandalism.

From July of this year through to Oct. 7, the police issued 41 arrest diversions, and so far none of them has been referred to probation for not accomplishing the program.

“Most of young people failing is just not showing up and getting involved in it,” Zipperman said. The students can’t get to the program because of transportation issues or a lack of understanding of what would happen if they didn’t go to the program and were sent to the probation department.

The police credit the FamilySource Partnership program, which conducts in-depth educational and psycho-social assessments by their Pupil Services & Attendance counselor.

Students Jesse Ramos from Bell High School and Valerie Mendez from the Maywood Academy participated in the substance abuse program and shared their experiences. The counseling officials said they made positive changes in their lives.

Zipperman added, “I am amazed how we can reach out to many, many more young people with resources we did not have three or four years ago.”

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Steve Zimmer greets parents at Vine Street Elementary

On the first day of school yesterday as he visited a school in his district, LA Unified board president Steve Zimmer encountered an unexpected issue: Parents at Vine Street Elementary in Hollywood were complaining about the tents, mobile homes and the homeless people living on the street behind the school.

“I know, I saw that while coming into the school, I had trouble getting in myself,” Zimmer said as he met with parents in one of his first-day-of-school stops. “This is a very serious concern and we should be able to take care of it quickly.”

Parent Rudy Sanchez raised the issue as Zimmer appeared before about 80 parents at the school of 580 students, K-through-6th grade. Many of the parents nodded in agreement that this issue was their most serious concern. Most of the children attending the school are dropped off to enter through a back entrance at Lillian Way, rather than through the main entrance on Vine Street. Lillian Way is a small street with mobile homes and trailers and several homeless people sleeping in boxes or tents.

“These homeless people follow the children, and today one of them almost hit my car while I was bringing my children to school,” said Sanchez, who has two children at the school. After school, he said, the children walk a few blocks to the Boys & Girls Club in Hollywood and he is worried. “I have told them don’t go with strangers, but I am nervous. This has been going on for a long time,” he said.

Zimmer suggested that LA Unified School Police create a Safe Passage zone, but parents said the school police and Los Angeles police have visited the campus over the past year. They told him officers move, ticket and arrest people when necessary, but the problem persists.

“The police are very good about responding when we call, but they say the city allows permits for the trucks and campers and people live there,” Sanchez said. “I think there should be a limit around the school area where they cannot do that.”

The school has a new principal, Kurt Lowry, who said that he will make issues of safety a high priority for the school. There are already meetings scheduled to answer parental concerns.

“We will get the police out here and the homeless services out here and we will get some solutions,” Zimmer said. “And I want to thank parents for bringing this to me.”

Lowry added, “It is important for parents to be a part of the school community and let us know how we can best help their children and the entire community.”