BURBANK : Schools Order Weapons Hot Line

A special telephone hot line for students to report weapons in schools and other security problems was ordered by the Burbank Unified School District on Thursday, said Supt. Arthur Pierce.

Operators will speak English, Spanish and Armenian, Pierce said. The hot line, to be based at the Burbank OutReach Center, is one of several steps to control weapons on campus, Pierce said.

The district this week also ordered hand-held metal detectors for random searches of students and are planning classroom talks by the Burbank Police Department.

“Let’s be proactive, rather than reactive,” Pierce said. But Pierce downplayed the potential for finding weapons when the metal detectors are put to use.

“My own belief is we will have few if any,” Pierce said. The hand-held metal detectors--likely to be used by principals, assistant principals, deans and campus aides who provide security--are expected to be delivered next week, but will not be used until the Burbank Board of Education creates a policy on how the searches are to be conducted.

Pierce said he expected to have guidelines drawn up for consideration at the board’s next meeting in two weeks.

On Tuesday night, the board voted to expel a Burbank High School student for possession on campus of a knife with a 2 1/2-inch blade.

The district has ordered 10 hand-held detectors of the same type used at Burbank Airport, at a cost of about $180 each. The district also plans to use a walk-through metal detector, Pierce said.

In the past, students caught with weapons in Burbank schools have claimed they needed them for protection on their way to and from school, Pierce said. During the 1991-92 school year, two students caught with knives were expelled. So far this year, school officials have found a BB gun and a screwdriver, which was used in a fight among three students, one of whom was injured.