GILROY
– The school district’s long-standing vandalism deterrence
program that keeps people on campus day and night will be phased
out in favor of high-tech electronic surveillance.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The school district’s long-standing vandalism deterrence program that keeps people on campus day and night will be phased out in favor of high-tech electronic surveillance.
The district has agreed to work with Vandal Watch program participants individually to determine what will be done with each of the 12 mobile homes located on district property as they relocate in the years to come, either to make room for district facilities expansion or for personal reasons. Compensation is a possibility.
“These people are homeowners, if you will, too, and they need protections, too … and we’re very mindful of that,” said Steve Brinkman, assistant superintendent of administrative services.
Vandal Watch started in 1978. It offers participants, who own their mobile homes, free rent of the land and free utilities in exchange for their vigilance over school campuses. Watchers are responsible for patrolling the campus, responding to alarms and reporting any vandalism or suspicious activity.
Part of the district’s reason for ending the program is its conclusion that Vandal Watchers are not a successful deterrent to vandalism. The program’s success is sporadic, district officials say, citing recent instances of vandalism on Vandal Watch campuses.
The Vandal Watchers will likely be replaced by high-tech security systems, much like the one installed at the new Ascencion Solorsano Middle School, which cost $119,000. The digital cameras make it possible to see the face of vandals on campus, Brinkman said. If vandalism occurs, the tapes likely will be reviewed by the school principal.
Yearly maintenance costs for the systems would be “minimal”, based on labor hours and cost of parts, Brinkman said.
The estimated cost of maintaining the Vandal Watch program is $144,000 each year for 12 Gilroy Unified School District campuses. That estimate includes the cost of utilities and waived rent.
Vandal Watchers have been struggling since early last year to negotiate an “exit strategy” with the district if they must sell or relocate their homes. Moving the residences would cost thousands of dollars and mobile home parks in the area are at capacity and will not accept homes more than a few years old, the residents say.
GUSD earlier this year attempted to update the Vandal Watch contracts, last revised in 1988. But program participants refused to sign until the district agreed to specify their rights and discuss compensation if the program were canceled. Participants have worried for several years that the district would end the program with little warning or assistance. In February 2002, a letter from GUSD, since rescinded, told Vandal Watchers the district was canceling their contracts.
School board trustees earlier this month unanimously approved the formal policy to remove Vandal Watchers on a site-by-site basis as the land is needed.
“As long as they treat people fair and they follow the law, I think that’s fine,” said Trustee David McRae, who for more than 10 years was a Vandal Watcher for GUSD at Rod Kelley Elementary School.
McRae said he felt he was “stuck” when, after notifying the district in 2001 he had purchased a house and would sell his mobile home, he was told that the new owner could not take over the Vandal Watch site. There was no place to move the mobile home, McRae said.
A year later, McRae was allowed to sell to a district-approved buyer who took over the Vandal Watch.
“It’s been a developing situation, and it’s been pretty obvious for the last two years the direction (the district is) going,” McRae said. “And, hopefully, for the people in the program now, it’s a lot clearer what’s going on, and they won’t be stuck like that.”
The issue has been fraught with emotion for Vandal Watchers who have worried they would be forced to move off district property with no place to move and face high expenses for relocating an older mobile home.
One vandal watch participant, speaking at a recent school board meeting, was in tears as she thanked the board for negotiating exit strategies.
GUSD will follow the due process for removing the Vandal Watch participants laid out in California’s Mobile Home Residency Law. Although the district has not been declared a mobile-home park, it will abide by the law because more than two mobile homes reside on its property.
“We have to be mindful of the law,” Brinkman said. “Whether we do legally or not is another story, but we’re certainly looking at it like we do.”
Exit strategies will first be negotiated with the participants on four GUSD campuses where the mobile homes’ locations impede construction projects, including Gilroy High School and Eliot, Las Animas and Glen View elementary schools.
Since those four sites are needed because of projects funded by Measure J, a district lawyer determined that Measure J funds also may be used to cover costs related to ending Vandal Watch. The district could consider purchasing the mobile homes to re-sell them later.
Brinkman said it is possible that the district would assist with the cost of moving the mobile homes.
“That’s an option we could choose to take but don’t have to,” Brinkman said.
Las Animas will be vacated in 2006, when a new school opens in southern Gilroy.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. In my situation, it’s still vague,” said John Ornelas, who has watched the campus for more than 20 years. “If the district wants to get rid of the Vandal Watch, that’s OK, but don’t throw us out on the street. That’s our main concern.”
District officials are in the process of creating an updated contract for all program participants that specifies duties and tenancy requirements.
“What we will probably have is language that … would make (participants) comfortable that, if there’s a transition, that we would be willing to negotiate,” Brinkman said.
