ASSAULT ON A PRINCIPAL; SCHOOL ATTACK SPARKS HATE CRIME PROBE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Police launched a hate crime investigation Tuesday into an attack on an elementary school principal who was menaced with a sharp object and knocked unconscious by two men as he got out of his car.

As Principal Norman G. Bernstein, 65, arrived about 6:30 a.m. Monday at Burton Elementary School, police said, the men came up from behind and punched him several times on the side of his face.

``They told me: We don't want you here anymore, principal. Do you understand that, white principal?'' Bernstein said Tuesday.

``There was a scuffle. I tried to fight them off,'' he said.

But then the two held a sharp object up to his neck, nicking him.

``You're sort of helpless because you're pinned in the car,'' he said.

``Fear, stress and tension. It was just those emotions. It happened so quickly. Everything was happening all at once. It's just unbelievable.''

``I felt that they were trying to scare me. I was hoping that they didn't have a gun.''

Detectives categorized the case as a hate crime investigation, said Lt. Anita McKeown of the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys Division. The assailants were described only as Latinos.

``They choked him out, basically,'' McKeown said.

Though school staff members noted that no such violent threats have occurred on the campus before, they said tensions have surfaced in the past six months among a small group of parents.

They have expressed vocal discontent over both year-round schooling and the dismantling of the bilingual education program, said a staff member at the school, who declined to give her name out of fear for her safety.

The staff member said that even though the issues stem from districtwide and state-level decision-making, the parents are taking the issues out on the school and the principal because they feel underrepresented.

``They want our principal removed because he's not bilingual and not Latino,'' the staff member said.

The staff member said the incident has shaken students, teachers and staffers at the school.

``I'm appalled, I'm shocked and dismayed and frightened as we all are that anyone would be hurt, let alone our wonderful principal,'' the staff member said.

Shirley Winger, a long-term substitute teacher, said she hoped people would not leap to conclusions while the investigation is under way.

``They have to see if there's really a connection,'' she said. ``I'm very upset about this. He's a very nice man.''

Bernstein said a majority of the parents and school staff is supportive of his efforts at the school.

``I have some decisions to make,'' he said. ``I want to return and I plan to return shortly, but I want to ensure that everything is calm and I do the best thing for the school.''

LAPD officials stepped up security in and around the school Tuesday.

Susan Lehman said the attack makes her worry for the safety of her 8-year-old son, Tony, who is in third grade at the school.

``It's scary - you never know if those kind of people are going to be around when the kids are there,'' said Lehman.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: (color) Burton Elementary School Principal Norman G. Bernstein was attacked by two men as he got out of his car Monday morning police say.