CAMPUSES ON ALERT; RESEDA HIGH ATTACK FUELS SAFETY CONCERNS.Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writers A campus where gang members climbed a fence and savagely beat a Reseda High School Reseda High School, established in 1955, is located in the Reseda section of Los Angeles, California, United States. The current principal of Reseda High is Alfredo Tarin. The mascot of Reseda High is the Regent, a lion welding a crown and a scepter. student is considered a model of security in Los Angeles schools The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. , the principal said Friday. Still, the metal detectors, roving security personnel and 12-foot fences weren't enough to keep out three attackers who police say chased down 15-year-old Nelson Gutierrez during school Thursday, beating him into unconsciousness. The youngster was recovering at home Friday, as police searched for the three assailants they believe did not go to the campus intentionally to harm Gutierrez. For parents, students and school administrators alike, the attack raises new, urgent questions about security at Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. campuses at a time when student-on-student violence is becoming epidemic nationwide. ``We can try to make this an island and make this campus as safe as possible, and I think we've been pretty successful with that,'' said Reseda High School Principal Robert Kladifko. Parents said they understand the difficulties of protecting the 2,200-student campus spread over 32 acres. ``Yes, we want more security,'' said Dale Jacobs, a member of the school's Parent Teacher Student Association and father to a graduating senior. ``As a parent, I would like my children to be 100 percent safe but I'm also a realist re·al·ist n. 1. One who is inclined to literal truth and pragmatism. 2. A practitioner of artistic or philosophic realism. Noun 1. . You can't watch every corner of the school, particularly the back fence or the area near the park, along the wash.'' It was the back fence that the assailants scaled Thursday. Parents reassured On Friday, Kladifko sent a memorandum to teachers, administrators and leaders of parents groups, telling them that the beating is under investigation. The principal also has announced he will close the section of playground where Gutierrez was attacked. It is yet another clampdown clamp·down n. An imposing of restrictions or controls: "Advertisers and broadcasters would raise howls of protest against any strong clampdown" Wall Street Journal. at the school since a student was shot to death in a hallway in 1993. The death of ninth-grader Michael Ensley spurred history and government teacher Jay Shaffer to form Weapons Are Removed Now, a program that encourages students to tell authorities about kids with weapons. On Friday, Shaffer said he has concluded that no school can be entirely safe. ``You would need bars on every window, burglar BURGLAR. One who commits a burglary. (q. v.) alarms on every door and a police officer assigned to every worker,'' said Shaffer, whose classroom is near the gate over which the intruders entered. He said the solution to stopping campus violence starts at home with parents. ``Schools can't reinforce values if they aren't there to begin with,'' he said. `Safe haven' Such an attack on campus is rare, said Detective Joel Price of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division anti-gang unit. ``We consider high school campuses to be a safe haven 1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government's responsibility and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid emergency. 2. , and they should be,'' Price said. The attack occurred about 1 p.m., near the end of lunch, on a playground where students were playing handball handball Any of a variety games in which a small rubber ball is struck against a wall with the hand or fist. It can be played in a three- or four-walled court or against a single wall by two or four players (in singles or doubles games, respectively). . The three gang members walked through a wash and scaled a 12-foot chain-link fence, Price said. ``Everyone took off when they came over the fence, they were screaming,'' he said. ``They attacked this one kid who apparently didn't run fast enough.'' The student was pummeled with fists and beer bottles. Gutierrez was briefly knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts and a possible head injury. Kladifko said he was walking the campus when the attack occurred and saw the students running. By the time he turned the corner, the attackers were gone. Although some students say they feel as safe as possible on the campus, others voiced concern about what they say is escalating violence. On Friday, a small fight broke out between two students, heightening height·en v. height·ened, height·en·ing, height·ens v.tr. 1. To raise or increase the quantity or degree of; intensify. 2. To make high or higher; raise. v.intr. tensions. Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. police Officer Greg Berry called the fight ``one on one,'' and ``a typical schoolyard fight,'' adding that Reseda is ``one of the quietest campuses I've ever worked on.'' Rosalva Ruiz, a 16-year-old student, said the fight reflects problems at the school. ``I saw the blood. I feel sorry for the guy. When you see blood, it's getting out of hand,'' Ruiz said. Precautions precautions Infectious disease The constellation of activities intended to minimize exposure to an infectious agent; precautions imply that the isolation of an infected Pt is optional, but not mandatory. taken Following the Ensley murder, Kladifko started the Inner Ear Council, a group of 30 student leaders who mediate MEDIATE, POWERS. Those incident to primary powers, given by a principal to his agent. For example, the general authority given to collect, receive and pay debts due by or to the principal is a primary power. disputes and provide perspective. The campus is enclosed en·close also in·close tr.v. en·closed, en·clos·ing, en·clos·es 1. To surround on all sides; close in. 2. To fence in so as to prevent common use: enclosed the pasture. by fences, and a school police officer patrols in a cart. Ten teachers and administrators supervise with hand-held radios. Reseda High PTSA PTSA Parent Teacher Student Association PTSA P-Toluenesulfonic Acid PTSA Prevention Through Service Alliance PTSA Petroleum Transportation and Storage Association PTSA Pre-Task Safety Analysis President Josie Zarate said she believed the school had adequate security. ``Do you want to surround the whole school with barbed wire barbed wire, wire composed of two zinc-coated steel strands twisted together and having barbs spaced regularly along them. The need for barbed wire arose in the 19th cent. ?'' said Zarate. ``Not unless you want to make it like a prison. I don't think you can prevent something like that from happening. If someone wants to come on our premises, especially teen-agers, they will find a way to do it.'' Richard Caravantes, 18, president of WARN, said he feels safe on campus. ``This is one of those one-in-a-hundred incidents that could have happened anywhere. It's remote. I still feel safe,'' he said. Still, no school is immune from the level of violence surrounding it, said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in Westlake Village, which helps campuses improve safety. ``What this tells us is that even with all the best things we can do, we can't ensure the safety of all students,'' said Stephens. --- Daily News Staff Writer Lisa Van Proyen contributed to this story. CRIME STATISTICS Despite Thursday's attack on the Reseda High School campus, the number of violent crimes at Los Angeles schools has fallen by 19 percent in the past five years. The number of gun- and knife-related crimes also have declined. Violent crimes reported in the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) 1996-97 1,281 1995-96 1,252 1994-95 1,440 1993-94 1,338 1992-93 1,583 Gun-related crimes reported in LAUSD 1996-97 179 1995-96 259 1994-95 281 1993-94 280 1992-93 424 Knife-related crimes reported in LAUSD 1996-97 390 1995-96 373 1994-95 408 1993-94 393 1992-93 469 SOURCE: LAUSD, U.S. Department of Education CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO Reseda High Principal Robert Kladifko examines a fence that was scaled by three assailants. John McCoy/Daily News BOX: CRIME STATISTICS (see text) |
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