Some parents and students at Costa Mesa High School in Southern California say they are fearful the school is unsafe after an increase in fights was reported, and weapons and drugs were found on campus.
In one recent incident, a student said she and her twin sister were attacked separately without provocation by a student who was later believed to be carrying a knife.
The same student said teachers routinely leave classrooms in tears over disruptive students, and a friend of hers resorted to carrying an unloaded gun to school last June after she had been bullied and received death threats.
The school district would not deny or confirm if a knife was involved in the first incident and declined to comment on the unloaded gun claim.
Parent Vicky Rodriguez, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified School Board last year, said she recently pulled her son out of the school shortly after he was bullied and attacked there.
She said she shadowed her son throughout the day before the decision was made to withdraw.
Throughout that experience, Rodriguez said she witnessed school fights, students disobeying teachers in the classroom without any punishment, and drug use in the school bathrooms.
“They’re aggressive. They have so much hate. They’re like animals in the jungle ... I’m sorry, there’s no other way to explain what I saw,” she said.
She said one student told her how students sell drugs on school grounds.
The student, she said, explained drugs are hidden in the back of a toilet, and students charge a small amount for their peers to use them, which are usually marijuana vaporizing pens.
Rodriguez said she informed the school’s assistant principal of the problem but was unhappy with his response. She said she witnessed him and the school’s security officer stand near the bathroom without paying much attention to students entering and leaving.
“They’re just standing there on their phones, but they don’t go in there. They don’t care,” she said.
The school district denied the allegations.
“These accusations are unsubstantiated. Any issues that are brought to school administrators are taken seriously and are addressed. Administrators are trained to investigate all matters of concern and respond appropriately,” Annette Franco, a district spokesperson, told The Epoch Times in a statement.
Rodriguez claimed one of the biggest issues the school faces is a lack of security and fewer parents volunteering in classrooms since the pandemic.
“They don’t let us parents go in there and volunteer. We want to keep our kids safe. ... Our kids don’t even want to go to that school,” she said.
According to officials, the district currently has more than 2,000 volunteers working districtwide and 80 on the Costa Mesa High School campus.
Another issue Rodriguez described was the lack of consequences for bad behavior.
She said while shadowing a class, one female student refused to give up her phone when asked and proceeded to use it the entire class, without any repercussions.
“Without any real consequences, and parents are hardly told anything, nothing is going to change. These kids know they can continue to get away with whatever they want,” she said.
The district responded, denying allegations of non-parent involvement, despite Rodriguez’s claim parents only learn of such incidents from their children.
“We communicate with parents when there are concerns or issues related to their child,” district officials said. “We also communicate with parents when issues impact the school community and ask for their partnership in talking with their children about fostering appropriate behaviors on campus.”
However, the district said they have seen a rise in student altercations, which, they said, they are working to address.
“While they are sporadic, we have seen an uptick in disruptive student behavior on campus and have worked collaboratively with staff, students, and parents to mitigate and bring resolution to these types of concerns. We have reassigned staff to be more visible on campus, especially during student breaks, lunch, before and after school,” officials said.
Five years ago, the school recorded 169 suspensions, nearly half of them related to violence, according to data from the California Department of Education.
Since then, there has been a steady decline in suspensions, with only a fraction recorded during the pandemic.
But compared to other high schools in the district, Costa Mesa has the highest number of suspensions over the last 5 years with 343 recorded. Following is Estancia High School with 309—mostly drug-related—and Newport Harbor High with 257, also mostly drug-related.
The Costa Mesa City Council voted unanimously in January to approve a third officer from the Costa Mesa Police Department, to assist in patrolling campuses throughout the district, including Costa Mesa High School.
However, the addition of the officer is not related to incidents at the school, according to Costa Mesa police spokesperson Roxi Fyad.
“Our priority is student safety,” she said. “Having school resource officers at schools is a great way to interact with students to help them and keep them safe.”
