Eagle Rock Students Protest Violence

An Eagle Rock High School student was stabbed as he stood outside the campus Friday, just hours after more than 150 classmates walked out of their classes to protest what they said was increasing campus violence and a weak school district policy for disciplining students who carry weapons.

Students who witnessed the attack, which occurred shortly after classes ended at 3 p.m., said four gang members knocked down the 16-year-old student, then stabbed him three times in the back and once in the head.

But Sgt. Roman Fromm of the Los Angeles school district police said the student was treated and released at a Glendale hospital for a minor head wound. Los Angeles police and fire officials confirmed that the incident was gang-related, but could not provide further details.

The student walkout earlier in the day was organized after a 14-year-old student was stabbed Wednesday on the campus in northeast Los Angeles.

“The nightmare continues at a campus that’s had little violence up until this year,” said Rudy Cordero, a history teacher who supported the walkout. “It’s horrible.”

Eagle Rock students left their classes at 11:30 a.m. Friday and gathered in the middle of campus. Students and parents who helped organize the hourlong walkout called on the Los Angeles Board of Education to reconsider its rejection of a proposal to automatically expel students found with weapons at school.

“We want a safe place, we want a safe environment,” said Suraya Fadel, Eagle Rock’s student body president, as classmates chanted, “No more weapons!”

Students said they will protest again next week by wearing black armbands to the school, which has an enrollment of 2,500. Parents and teachers are circulating petitions to urge the Board of Education to reconsider its decision, Cordero said.

District officials said the protest was the first over the board’s May 7 decision. Board members voted 6 to 1 against a measure that would have expelled any student caught with a weapon at school, with no exceptions. Members at the time said the measure was too broad and restrictive.

Representatives of board member Leticia Quezada, after receiving a call from parents, agreed Friday to meet with administrators and parents next Thursday.

Until this school year, Eagle Rock High School, with one security guard employed by the district, had experienced little campus violence, said Principal John Anderson.

But since September, four students have been arrested for carrying guns in school. In March, a 10th-grade boy was stabbed by two classmates in a gang-related incident. Authorities treating the victim discovered that he was carrying a pistol, Anderson said.

And on Wednesday, an eighth-grade girl was stabbed at the school. She told authorities she was attacked in a girls’ restroom by two male students. Administrators, however, said she may have been trying to kill herself.

Despite uncertainty about that incident, students said they believe it was a gang-related attack and an indication that campus violence is increasing.

“We don’t feel safe anymore when we come to school,” Fadel said. “We want something done.”