by 
San Manuel Miner
At the Oracle School District Governing Board meeting held on Sept. 17, 2015, the agenda included a recommendation that the governing Board discuss the Oracle Neighborhood Watch Alliance (ONWA) involvement with the Oracle School District.
The items to discuss were listed as:
• Possible development of guidelines by Superintendent in conjunction with ONWA regarding patrols: weapons, political activity, trespassers, etc.
• Possible future action regarding use of vacant office space at the Oracle Ridge campus by ONWA
• Other concerns
According to Governing Board member Steve Brown, concerns brought up at the meeting were liability issues and what Brown says were racist and vulgar comments made by Ron Thompson, Coordinator/Safety for ONWA, on his Facebook page. The Board agreed to continue the discussion at the October meeting. In the meantime, ONWA could continue their security watch on school grounds after hours and weekends.
It has been found out that the security watches have been discontinued at the school district’s request. The ONWA was scheduled to do a presentation to students on Oct. 8, but that has been cancelled also. The neighborhood watch sign has been removed from the Mtn. Vista School fence.
When asked about the stopping of the watches, Superintendent Dennis Blauser said, “I respect that the Neighborhood Watch wanted to keep an eye on the school grounds but at this time, the school district has to respectfully decline their services.”
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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