Rick Perez of Hollister said when his third-grade son Ricky was accused by Sunnyslope Elementary School Principal Melinda Scott of drawing graffiti on the bathroom walls, the boy denied it. Perez also said when Scott told Ricky that a video camera inside the bathroom had caught him in the act, he decided the school had crossed the line.
The video camera that Perez said his son was told had recorded him is actually a fake camera – installed in the boy’s restroom and designed to trick the children into thinking they are being recorded – and in turn dissuade them from unruly behavior, Scott said.
Scott also denied telling any children that the cameras were real.
“The kids know (the cameras) aren’t real – the parents know they aren’t real,” Scott said. “It was designed to prevent problems in the bathrooms and it has not really been a deterrent.”
Hollister School District Superintendent Ron Crates said he was “shocked” to learn fake cameras were installed in the bathrooms and on Thursday ordered them removed.
“I think this is absolutely intolerable,” Crates said. “I understand problems often happen in the bathrooms and students must be disciplined, but fake cameras in the bathrooms are unacceptable.”
Scott said the cameras were installed in 2001, when former Principal Maxine Carlson met with parents to try and find a way to keep kids from fighting and vandalizing the bathrooms.
“The fake camera idea was done with the parents approval,” Scott said. “Letters were sent out (in January 2003) informing parents of the plan.”
Perez said after the May 22 incident, Ricky was made to erase the marks in the bathroom and to sit on the bench during lunch as punishment. Perez said a teacher told him if his son marked on the walls again, the school would contact police.
He also said any camera – fake or not – has no place in a children’s restroom.
“This is wrong. The education system is lying to our children,” said Perez, a single father. “My son did not write the graffiti. I saw it and it wasn’t his handwriting. But lying to a kid, telling him he was on videotape and to admit it – that’s just wrong.”
