Editorial Editorial (January 21, 2005)

Sex offenders near elementary schools

As if the parents of Mountain View-Whisman elementary school students don't have enough to worry about, given the upcoming decision to close one of the district's schools, they now have learned that one or more registered sex offenders lives within a half mile of their school.

Certainly, the school-closure decision is more worrisome to some parents, although its major impact will only be felt at one school. But the presence of convicted sex offenders living around the Mountain View-Whisman campuses has to be taken seriously, although local police state emphatically that they know the whereabouts of every offender living within the city. In addition, offenders living in the community are doing so legally and have every right to do so.

In last week's story on the subject, the Voice pointed out that each school had at least one and as many as nine "serious" sex offenders living within a half mile of the campus. The information became available after the state opened a Web site, www.meganslaw.ca.gov, which is said to list all "high-risk" and "serious" sex offenders, including addresses and photographs of many. You can enter your own address and the site will tell you which of the offenders lives within a half mile of your home or school.

School officials, when contacted by the Voice , were mostly unaware that sex offenders lived so close to their schools. But Trustee Ellen Wheeler, who has one student in fourth grade, said she felt the benefit of the state's Web site is that it "heightens awareness." One principal said she was being extra vigilant to make sure no one comes on her campus who doesn't appear to belong.

School officials add that while it is important for parents to discuss safety with their children, they caution that it is best not to give them more information than they can use. Trustee Gloria Higgins said the Web site "doesn't alarm me. It makes me more aware that I need to talk to my children."

Mountain View police say they are working hard to make sure nothing untoward happens at any of the local campuses. The new Web site is a useful tool that parents, and any other resident, can use to pinpoint the address of registered sex offenders. It may tell us more than we want to know, but it also tells us what we need to know.

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