Closer Rein on Students Proposed : In Wake of Alleged Attacks by Athletes

Stung by criticism that school officials have not punished several San Dieguito High School football players charged in three ganglike attacks off campus, the district superintendent has proposed a new get-tough policy toward off-campus violence by students.

Under the proposal, an athlete could be kicked off the team for off-campus misconduct such as fighting, stealing, drinking, drug usage, profane or vulgar language, or destruction of property.

Supt. William Berrier said the county counsel advised him that the school district cannot remove the players charged in the current attacks from the team, even if they are convicted, because the district does not have a policy on off-campus behavior.

To strengthen the school’s grip in future cases, Berrier proposed a policy whereby each athlete, and a parent, would be required to sign a code of conduct. A violation of the code, which also includes following training rules, could mean the loss of eligibility.

Memo to School Board

Berrier, in a memo to school board members, said the new code would “strengthen the school’s role in developing productive self-disciplined young people.”

“Certainly no one condones brutality such as that described by victims of recent incidents in this community,” Berrier said. “ . . . At the same time the school district is limited in its ability to support standards beyond those that are connected somehow with school attendance.”

The new code would apply to all students involved in extra-curricular activities such as band, student government, drama, glee club, etc. The code would not be retroactive.

Tom Gabel, allegedly beaten by San Dieguito students in the driveway of his home in Leucadia, said he was pleased with Berrier’s proposal. He was among a number of parents and alleged victims who pleaded with the school board Sept. 3 to condemn the violence and remove the players from the team.

Proposal Praised

“I think the superintendent’s proposal is a significant advance, and shows the district is taking a position that violence by students is not acceptable,” Gabel said.

But the father of a football player charged in the alleged attack on Gabel said he disagrees with Berrier’s proposal and predicted it will mean “a flood of litigation” if the district tries to oust a player for off-campus behavior.

“Does this mean if I see a girl field hockey player drinking a beer, she can be kicked off the team?” he asked. “The school board is getting into an area of responsibility (off-campus behavior) that is best left to the courts and the parents. They are reacting to a vocal group rather than planning logically.”

Athletic Director Dave La Borde, who helped Berrier develop the proposal, said his investigation showed that San Dieguito would be the first district in North County to require athletes to sign a code of conduct covering off-campus behavior. He said coaches support the idea because it would help them enforce discipline.

‘Takes Away the Gray Area’

“It will let both the parent and student know what the expectations are,” La Borde said. “It takes away the gray area, where a student can say they really didn’t know the rules. The coaches are for anything that will strengthen our program, and I think this would definitely do that.”

La Borde said the idea of a code of conduct for athletes will be discussed Wednesday at the monthly meeting of North County athletic directors.

Wayne DeBate, secondary schools’ athletic manager for the San Diego Unified School District, said there is no San Diego district policy requiring athletes to sign a code of conduct, or warning them that off-campus misdeeds can get them booted from the team. But he added he believes individual schools may have such policies.

“I know that in my days as a coach, the boys knew that anything that they got involved in off-campus could mean trouble,” said DeBate, who was varsity basketball coach and athletic director at Hoover High School in East San Diego before taking his current post 10 years ago.

To Consider Proposal

The board of trustees for the San Dieguito Union High School District will consider Berrier’s proposal Thursday night. The district includes San Dieguito High in Encinitas, Torrey Pines High in Del Mar, Sunset (Continuation) High in Encinitas, Oak Crest Junior High in Encinitas, and Diegueno Junior High in Encinitas.

Berrier has also proposed a policy to eliminate any confusion over the role of teachers and coaches in court proceedings involving students.

Part of the controversy over the alleged beatings has involved San Dieguito football coach Ed Burke, who urged the Juvenile Court to allow the defendants to play football while standing trial. Deputy Dist. Atty. John Davidson had requested that the players be banned from playing as part of their “house arrest.”

Superior Court Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund, sitting in Juvenile Court, ruled that the defendants could play and indicated that he assumed Burke was speaking on behalf of school officials in urging him to turn down the prosecutor’s request.

Didn’t Represent District

In subsequent interviews, Berrier said Burke was not speaking for the school district in the court hearing.

In his memo to school board members, Berrier said he was advised by the county counsel that “a coach is entitled, just as any other individual would be entitled, to appear at a hearing or a trial to show support for the defense . . . .”

With that in mind, Berrier proposes a policy requiring any school employee who speaks at a hearing or trial to state at the outset that “his or her appearance at the hearing is not endorsed by the district.”

In all nine current or former athletes at San Dieguito High have been charged in three alleged attacks: April 26 in a La Costa parking lot, May 30 at a party in Olivenhain, and June 25 at the Gabel home. Former star wrestler Erik Heipt, a June graduate, has been convicted of misdemeanor battery and is awaiting sentencing in the La Costa incident.

Hearing Scheduled for Today

Several defendants are set for a hearing today in Juvenile Court. Among the charges against them are assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly having kicked their victims in the head while they were on the ground. If convicted, the judge could remove them from the team.

Three of the defendants are first-string players: a running back, a linebacker, and a defensive tackle.

In Friday’s 10-3 win over Granite Hills High, the running back caught a 60-yard touchdown pass, the linebacker recovered a key fumble, and the defensive tackle sacked the opposing quarterback behind the line of scrimmage on a crucial play in the 4th quarter.

In his memo to school board members, Berrier noted that the state Education Code says that a student can be suspended or expelled from school only for acts “related to school activity or school attendance.”

District Policy

A district policy defines such acts as occurring on school grounds, on the way to or from school, or at a school activity.

For an incident that is clearly off-campus, the discipline must fall short of suspension or expulsion and be based on a determination that the student has a “a direct and immediate tendency to influence the conduct of other pupils” if left unpunished.

A clear-cut policy on off-campus conduct, including a warning about possible punishment, is meant to strengthen the district’s legal position in making such determinations.

“Whether or not removal from from an extra-curricular program would be considered reasonable (for off-campus conduct) would be based on the circumstances of the individual situation,” Berrier said. The proposed code of conduct says such decisions would be made by the principal and coach or teacher.