The father of a child playing soccer for the American Youth Soccer Organization found a hypodermic needle on the Brookside Elementary School soccer field Oct. 7. Ac- cording to a statement by Oak Park Unified School District Superintendent Tony Knight, the needle was found in the child’s soccer ball, although it was not connected to a syringe.

Knight wrote that the parent who discovered the needle discarded it, so the Ventura County Sheriff could not investigate it. It is still unknown who brought the needle on campus.

“Our campuses are not fully secured 24 hours a day, so we have little ability to control if someone comes onto a campus and leaves a needle or something else,” Knight wrote to the Talon. “We have cameras that monitor this, but in this case, nothing unusual has been seen on the camera footage.”

According to Knight, the district will be taking precautions in the future to ensure that all campuses are safe, including a plan to conduct a full inspection of the field where the needle was found, along with playgrounds and fields throughout the district. Knight suggests parents also take precautions.

“We urge parents who are using the fields or parks to pay attention to the play areas and look for anything that might be dangerous,” Knight wrote.