Signs of Progress Seen in MUSD Students' Mental Health, According to Healthy Kids Survey
Also, city faces lawsuit, D.A. investigation into alleged assault by police officer at Amtrak station; council to consider new food truck regulations, transferring Joe DiMaggio's boat to nonprofit
The percentage of Martinez Unified School District 11th graders reporting feelings of chronic sadness and suicidal ideation fell to the lowest levels during the 2022-23 school year since before the pandemic, according to the latest results from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
Although the results from the latest survey didn’t show progress in students’ emotional and mental health across the board, the trend overall was positive. Reports of students nationwide experiencing emotional distress spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic that upended public education and led to prolonged school closures, though such concerns were already on the rise before the pandemic.
What’s been described as a youth mental health crisis has consumed more focus in school districts, including Martinez Unified, in recent years, including heightened efforts to address the causes of the problem.
In MUSD, the efforts seem to be paying at least some dividends.
The percentage of MUSD 11th graders who reported experiencing feelings of chronic sadness and hopelessness fell from 53% during the 2020-21 school year to 38% in 2022-23. At the ninth-grade level, the percentage during the same period fell from 43% to 32%, though that figure ticked up slightly from 29% in 2021-22.
Patty O’Malley, principal of MUSD’s Vicente Martinez/Briones High School and the district’s point person on its mental and emotional health efforts in recent years, emphasized in a presentation to the school board last week that the survey results reflect “a moment in time” and snapshot of students’ feelings and experiences during the specific period when the survey is administered. Response rates to the survey can also vary by grade level and year.
There was similar progress in the percentage of students reporting that they had considered suicide over the preceding 12 months. Among high school juniors, 16% reported such feelings in the 2022-23 survey, down from 23% in 2020-21. Among ninth graders, the percentage fell from 21% to 15% during the same period. O’Malley told the school board that the rates of suicidal ideation among high schoolers in MUSD are lower than the state average.
In the area of substance abuse, 17% of 11th graders last school year reported using marijuana at least once during the preceding 30 days, up from 11% in 2020-21 but still down considerably from the 32% who reported doing so in 2017-18. The percentage who reported being very drunk or high seven or more times in their life fell from 17% to 11% from 2020-21 to 2022-23. It had been as high as 25% in 2018-19.
Teen vaping of electronic cigarettes reached crisis levels in the late-2010s, with 30% of MUSD 11th graders reporting such use in 2018-19. That figure has plunged in the ensuing years, and was down to 9% in 2022-23. However, the trend may be shifting from tobacco to marijuana vaping; 7 percent of respondents reported marijuana vaping specifically.
O’Malley said the accuracy of responses to substance abuse questions can be difficult to ascertain. She noted that in her experience administering the survey when she was a vice principal at Alhambra High, “kids were very nervous” about addressing that topic.
More MUSD results from the California Healthy Kids Survey can be found at the following link: https://calschls.org/reports-data/public-dashboards/f882f1e2-dfc0-4448-b90b-f49cef6e6d3f/
Lawsuit, investigation into police assault claims
The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that a federal civil right lawsuit has been filed against the city of Martinez over allegations that a police officer attacked a man and broke his ribs, along with causing several other injuries, at the Amtrak station on April 1, 2023. The officer allegedly left the injured man without offering medical care.
The suit, according to the Chronicle story, claims that the unnamed police officer assaulted the man for no apparent reason, resulting in the victim, Todd Wilkins, undergoing emergency surgery for elbow cellulitis, then spending one week in the hospital, three more weeks in recuperative care and six weeks undergoing physical therapy.
The Chronicle article said the police department could not be reached for comment. However, after I reached out to police Chief Andrew White and City Attorney Terri Highsmith following the article’s publication, White sent the following response Friday morning to my questions.
We haven’t been served with this lawsuit.
The officer involved is no longer employed with the city.
The department engaged an outside investigator to conduct an administrative investigation last year. Additionally, we requested an outside criminal investigation by the DA’s Office when a complaint was first made about the underlying incident. The case remains under review by the DA’s Office.
The administrative investigation and findings were provided to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training pursuant to SB 2. To my knowledge, they have not taken any licensing action related to the incident.
The officer was in the area for another call for service when they contacted Mr. Wilkins.
Because the criminal investigation remains active, we cannot release records that might otherwise be subject to release pursuant to 832.7 PC.
Because this is pending litigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further, including regarding any allegations raised in the lawsuit filing. Like any other lawsuit, once served, the City would respond accordingly in court.
In closing, our complaint process ensures that allegations of misconduct are investigated and evaluated, along with relevant evidence, in a fair and impartial manner to determine what happened. When misconduct is found to have occurred, we have a comprehensive adjudication process that can involve training, discipline and/or other corrective action.
Contra Costa D.A. spokesperson Ted Asregadoo confirmed last week that the incident remains under investigation by the office.
City Council set to vote on new food truck regulations
The City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on a series of zoning-related changes to the Municipal Code, including regulations governing the operation of food trucks. The city Planning Commission unanimously approved the recommendations on April 9, though it recommended the City Council consider expanding permitted hours, after the Noise Ordinance is updated, to allow opportunities for food service associated with establishments serving adult beverages. The current proposal would limit food truck operating hours to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Under state law, the city cannot ban legally parked food trucks on public streets. However, according to the staff report accompanying Wednesday’s agenda item, the city “can impose time, place, and manner restrictions that have a health or safety basis.” In addition to limits on the hours of operation, city staff is proposing the following restrictions under the new regulations:
A requirement to provide a waste receptacle and off-haul of any refuse;
A prohibition from operating on streets where the speed limit is greater than 35 miles per hour; and
A requirement for food trucks operating for longer than one hour in a parking space to adhere to the following distance requirements: 100 feet of separation from the nearest food truck in a parking space; and 200 feet from a readily available sanitation facility.
Other proposed rules include securing all required permits and licenses, minimizing noise from generators, and limiting operations to no more than 100 days per year (excluding Mondays and Tuesdays).
Corey Katz, owner Brix and Craft on Main Street, submitted a public comment letter to the council expressing concerns that “placing food trucks downtown, especially in front of existing restaurants or on Main Street, exacerbates our existing parking issues and undermines our efforts to attract customers to Downtown Martinez, which has undergone significant transformations since 2016 when I first started my business here.” In the letter, he urges the city to “consider alternative locations for food truck gatherings that promote community engagement without negatively impacting established businesses downtown.”
Katz’s letter was submitted prior to a March 13 community information meeting hosted by the city in which the proposed regulations were discussed, as well as the city’s limited ability to control where food trucks operate under the state vehicle code and case law. The staff report says no other public comments had been received on the matter as of the time the report was prepared.
Joltin’ Joe boat may get new home
Residents likely remember the extensive effort over several years to restore the pleasure boat, nicknamed the “Joltin’ Joe,” of legendary Martinez native Joe DiMaggio, which was given to the city in 1994. The restoration was completed in 2015, but the city, according to a staff report for Wednesday’s council meeting, is unable to preserve the boat, valued at $246,500, in its restored condition, citing such factors as “a lack of quality storage options, staff expertise and funding.”
As a result, the city is considering transferring ownership of the 22-foot Chris-Craft Sportsman to the nonprofit Joe DiMaggio Hometown Hero Project, which made the request in an April 2 letter to the city. The council is scheduled to discuss the matter at Wednesday’s meeting.