Drug sting snags 15 students, the headlines screamed out in the Union-Tribune on Jan. 4. University City High School (UCHS) and Patrick Henry were the high schools where undercover cops posed as students the first semester for four months. These “students” bought a variety of drugs, including marijuana, a painkiller, ecstasy, and psilocybin or magic mushrooms. Ernie Smith, principal at UCHS, didn’t know about the sting until the day before it occurred, on Jan. 3. He was willing to discuss the incident and share his thoughts with the community.
When asked why UCHS was picked as one of the schools, Principal Smith said he heard that citizen complaints and an anonymous letter were the reasons.
“I can’t really speculate on it, but I was told it was random selection,” he said. “The other answer was that school police in our district have open lines to people. If someone writes a letter about fights every day on campus, well, police will follow up. There was an implication, not a direct statement, that messages had been received about either one or both schools about drug use going on.”
Smith was asked if the students were local or from other areas of San Diego. He went on the offensive to make sure the community knows his loyalty to his whole student body.
“First of all, they are all our kids, anybody who comes here. They are our students through and through,” he emphasized. “I am cautious about sharing this information because I don’t want to damn anyone’s community. Even as I say this, there are kids in other communities who are probably in possession of or selling drugs. OK.”
“So they are all our kids who come from all communities,” he repeated. “For the seven students arrested, we had four from Clairemont, two from University City/La Jolla area, and one from Pacific Beach.”
Since Smith wasn’t informed about the sting until the day before the event, one would surmise that he might be upset as the principal of the school.
“You know, I’m OK with that,” he said. “I really do believe it takes everybody to help get these kids through these high school years. It takes the police, it takes parenting, and it takes school, medical pieces and research pieces. If everyone can guide these kids “¦ I’m OK not knowing. This is the police doing their job to help us have a drug-free and safer environment. Drugs on campus are dangerous for the individual; a kid can have an overdose or become addicted. Drugs are dangerous for our community because with illegal activity all kinds of things touch on that, so I am glad they chose to do this. It will help slow down what’s happening.”
Were drugs a big problem and was this the tip of the iceberg?
“Let me say it this way,” Smith added. “I think every high school, public, private and parochial, has drugs on their campus. I’m basing that on the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention’s statistics. More than 30 percent of high school kids have experimented with drugs “¦ 38.4 percent, to be exact. With a number like that, it’s going to be everywhere.”
While the Union-Tribune reported the police arrested nine students at University City High School, the reality is only seven. Two of the kids had been at UCHS when they did a drug sale and then transferred to other schools in the county. Actually the number would have been 10, according to Smith, because they planned to arrest a former UCHS student now residing in Ohio.
Getting expelled is possible punishment for the students involved.
“Right now we haven’t done anything with the students because they are in police custody,” Smith said. “When a child or adult is taken from our campus and they go with the police, we don’t do anything until the police complete their actions. Right now, these young people are incarcerated. As soon as they are released to their parents, then we will begin our part with suspensions or expulsions.
“It varies for each student. If there are nine kids, then there are nine separate types of actions ” because one kid might have had heroin and cocaine. Another kid might have been involved the first time with a tiny bit of marijuana. Another one might have had the biggest stash of marijuana that he sold in the world. Every case is going to be individual, but I will tell you what, every one is going to involve a suspension and every one will involve us seeking a zero tolerance. That kid should not return to this school at all, ever!”
Smith insisted that if another drug sting were done on Monday, it would be kids from other areas like Lincoln or Morse. On Tuesday it could be kids from Madison or another area.
“Just because it broke down this way, it will break down another way in another set of circumstances,” he said.
It is not easy being a high school principal, especially these days. However, Ernie Smith seems to be the kind of principal who really cares about and is involved with the students, staff and community members. He has an open-door policy.
On a happier note, Smith was delighted to share the fact that “our seniors are starting to receive their notifications of college acceptance. Once again, and this is not exaggerating, it looks like it’s going to be a banner year. Our kids are getting into some of the best colleges in the country.”
The Union-Tribune probably won’t report that bit of good news, but we are glad to sing the praises of the majority of the Centurion students who do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
“It is déjà vu all over again,” as Yogi Berra is credited with saying. Swanson Pool’s gates will be locked for three months beginning Feb. 19 as a money-saving move for the city. This idea burns the community of University City more than the chlorine in the water.
Last year’s closure was aborted when District 1 City Councilman Peters asked and got approval for $72,719 District 1-allotted Proposition 40 funds to restore 10 weeks of operations at Swanson. Peters noted that more than 2,000 people use Swanson Pool for recreation, swim lessons and safety training every month.
It roils the water to read over and over again the obscene amounts of money consultants receive in San Diego. Maybe a few letters of concern should be directed to the councilman’s office and the mayor’s office. Here are the e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected].
Last year an anonymous donor ponied up $1,000 to help keep the pool open, although he never put a toe in the pool. He just wanted to make sure UC swimmers didn’t lose the opportunity. His concern was that this source of money for the city would be an ongoing thing, and he was right.
Is there any correlation between keeping kids active in sports like swimming and illegal drug involvement? Why don’t we ask our kids or the mayor and councilman? Spending money on the front end to keep Swanson open might negate the need to spend some money on fighting drug involvement for our kids. The bad news is there is no cure for the consultants the city retains!