Sharing of student records is urged
Isle justice officials say such access would help combat violence and abuse
Top officials in the state's criminal justice system said yesterday that public school records about student misbehavior should be shared with them and other agencies.
"We're offering to be your partners," U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo told a state Board of Education committee. He urged the Department of Education to tap the "plethora of resources" available from public and private agencies to cope with violence, drug abuse, truancy and other problems in schools.
The intention of shared records would be to implement early intervention before antisocial behavior escalates, said Kauai County Prosecutor Craig DeCosta. "It's not that we want to prosecute; we want what is best for the child," he said. A change in the law would be necessary before records are shared, he noted.
Representatives of police, prosecutor and judiciary testified at a meeting of the board's Ad Hoc Committee on School Safety. It was the first of a series of sessions to explore how to improve safety in schools and what changes to policies, rules and laws are needed.
Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning said, "Family Court is very concerned about school safety." When a youngster is brought before the juvenile drug court, "almost all haven't gone to school for years."
Regarding cases of violence, "in many instances these are kids in special education," he said. "We find out they have three or four previous assaults. We would prefer that they be brought to us sooner."
Browning said that of the 6,000 to 8,000 youngsters in Family Court each year, about 80 percent have drug or alcohol-abuse problems and more than 60 percent have emotional, psychological or mental health issues.
"We don't prioritize our children as much as we should," he said. "We don't have mental health facilities for them, we don't have drug rehabilitation for them. Our kids spend more time in jail than adults do for the same crimes."
Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle told board members that each school should keep records of every incident of violent or antisocial behavior. He said fear of lawsuits may deter teachers from documenting or sharing information, but "the kids at school know who is the drug user, who is fighting. Now we make it so adults know it."
"It doesn't just stay with the school system; it goes to the police, the prosecutor," if the law is changed as he would like, Carlisle said.
Kim Coco Iwamoto of the DOE's Safe Schools Community Advisory Committee spoke to board members after the justice system panel left and urged the board to use "a holistic healing model not a criminal justice model" in dealing with school problems.
"They said they wouldn't use the information on children to prosecute them down the line. Don't believe them," Iwamoto said. "You should have been listening to social workers today."
