SIMI SCHOOLS RESPOND TO COLORADO SHOOTINGS.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

In the wake of the Columbine High School shootings, officials at three Simi Valley high schools have encouraged teachers to lead discussions on youth violence in their classrooms.

And, according to school administrators, many teachers did.

But some parents of Simi Valley High School say that there should have been an effort to reach the entire student body in the wake of the tragedy in Littleton, Colo., that killed 15, including the two gunmen.

``If you don't address it, what you're saying is, It can't happen there,'' said Robert Sabado, who has a son and daughter at Simi Valley High. ``I think that every school has a problem - not to that extreme maybe - but it can happen.''

Assistant Principal Barbara Hatton said administrators chose to let teachers take time to discuss last week's shooting, rather than call an assembly or make an announcement over the public address system.

``We're not going to have an assembly and speak to the students when they have to learn,'' she said. ``In the two years I've worked here, we've had one assembly.

``We put education first here and they're in the classroom. We decided to handle it in a more intimate way,'' she said.

Sabado said his son and daughter and a friend came home from Simi Valley High on Friday, talking about a lunchtime shouting match between student athletes and others they characterized as ``Gothics'' - the two groups that seemed to be at the center of the Colorado shootings.

But Hatton said no fights or verbal altercations were reported to officials on Friday, and said that if it did happen, it was likely a brief exchange that didn't raise concern.

Hatton said that if any of the warning signs Colorado officials attribute to the shooters - Columbine seniors Dylan Klebod and Eric Harris - were evident in Simi Valley, they would be noted by teachers or reported anonymously by students.

``We asked students if they could hide some of these warning signs from their parents and they said, yes,'' Hatton said. ``But they don't usually hide it from friends . . . If nothing else the kids want to be safe here, and the parents want their kids to be safe.''

At Santa Susana High School, the campus has observed a moment of silence each day through the week and an announcement was made over the public address system that teachers could discuss teen violence in class and that students could seek help from their counselors if needed.

Royal High School Assistant Principal Sara Davis said her principal called a meeting among teachers on April 21 - the day after the Colorado shootings - and urged them to lead classroom discussions. And if a teacher was uncomfortable doing so, an administrator would take their place.

She said there have been no threats or violent outbreaks on campus. The most they've dealt with is referring individual students to counseling if they thought it was needed.