MySpace Posting Upsets School

It has been a scary, and sometimes violent, few days at Newhall’s Hart High School, culminating Tuesday when about half the student body stayed home because of a threatening post on a popular online community.

First there were the fights along racial lines that broke out late last week. Then there was the message posted Monday on the MySpace website, proclaiming Tuesday as a “bring your weapons to school day” at Hart and other high schools in the district.

All stayed quiet Tuesday, but school officials were on high alert and security was tight. Officials said the rumors of what might happen were fed by students with instant communications at their disposal -- namely, their cellphones.

“With cellphones and text messages, it’s amazing how fast the rumors can fly,” said Pat Willett, a spokeswoman for William S. Hart Union High School District.

The sequence of events began Thursday, when, school officials said, there was an altercation between an African American student and one of Middle Eastern descent. The cause of the fight was unclear, officials said.

By Friday, the student rumor mill was working overtime, so that by noon, Willett said, it was clear there was going to be trouble. At lunch, Hart students began gathering in the school’s quad area.

“They were posturing,” Willett said. “They were just glaring at each other.”

Chris Wyatt, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy assigned to the school, described the scene as a “riot situation” in which there was “an obvious division along racial lines.”

Wyatt said fights began to break out along the edges of the crowd.

Officials rang the school lockdown bell, which is reserved for emergencies. Some students did not return to their classrooms and threw rocks and plastic bottles at deputies. Four students were taken into custody, but there were no serious injuries. School was dismissed early.

Classes resumed uneventfully Monday, until the MySpace posting began circulating. It announced that Tuesday would be “bring your weapons to school day.” The posting, school officials said, called on students at all five high schools in the district to bring their weapons. It also said Wyatt would be a target, as would white female students, particularly blonds.

School officials phoned parents late Monday, telling them that administrators knew of the posting and that extra deputies would be on duty Tuesday.

Willett said that because of the posting, about half of the 2,700 students at Hart stayed home; those who did show up were thoroughly searched. There were about a dozen deputies on the school grounds Tuesday, with plans to keep them there until officials were sure order had been completely restored.

Meanwhile, the talk among students about what might happen next stayed lively.

“Kids live on rumors and peer pressure, unfortunately,” Wyatt said.