Private School Expels 3 Students Over Weapons

Three 15-year-old students who were caught last week carrying weapons--two real handguns, a replica pistol and a knife--have been expelled from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, officials at the private Catholic campus said Tuesday.

Los Angeles police detectives are now investigating the incident to determine if the three teen-agers--all sophomores--should be arrested. “It’s against the law to possess a firearm on campus, regardless of whether it’s a private or public school,” Police Lt. Richard Blankenship said.

The expulsions at Notre Dame come as concern over school safety continues to climb in the wake of two fatal shootings within a month on Los Angeles public high school campuses, including the death of a 17-year-old football player at Reseda High School.

Officials at Notre Dame--operated by the Holy Cross Fathers with an enrollment of about 1,000 boys and girls--were able to expel the three teen-agers within days because the school, as a private institution, is not bound by the same laws governing student discipline on public campuses.

Acting on tips from other students, administrators at Notre Dame seized the weapons last Wednesday and Thursday in what they said were unrelated cases.

On the first day, the school dean discovered an unloaded .380 semiautomatic pistol in the backpack of a Studio City youth who was not identified. The school president, Brother William Nick, said the teen-ager, who like the others apparently brought the weapon from home, was immediately suspended.

School officials Thursday found weapons on two youths who claimed they were protecting themselves following “some altercation” off campus with others a few days earlier, Nick said. Administrators found a holstered, unloaded .38-caliber revolver in the pants of a Sun Valley youth, who hid a live round in his pocket and three more in his socks, police and school officials said. A pistol replica and a folding knife were recovered from the backpack of a North Hollywood teen-ager. The city law against weapons on school grounds includes replica guns.

“Those students were responding primarily to what they felt was a threat outside of school,” Nick said. “But they did something stupid in bringing weapons to campus.”

School officials suspended the two youths, notified their parents, then turned the weapons over to Los Angeles police on Friday--a wait officers said was unintentional but ill-advised because of the delay in mounting a police investigation.

“Obviously they don’t deal with this situation as much as the public schools, so we’ll have to have a conversation with them to let them know how best to deal with this kind of incident,” Blankenship said. “Anytime you recover a firearm you should contact the Police Department. You should not wait at all.”

Nick attributed the delay to the surprise of school officials over the incidents, which he said Notre Dame has never encountered before.

The three youths were expelled Monday after a hearing before the campus disciplinary board, Nick said. On Tuesday, officials went from class to class informing students what had happened. The school also sent home bulletins to parents.

“This was important to dispel rumors,” Nick said.

Concern over student safety on campus has heightened throughout Los Angeles since two youths were shot to death recently at two public high schools. Los Angeles Unified School District officials have enacted a toughened weapons policy mandating expulsion for any student caught with a gun on campus, which could lead to the removal of an 11-year-old Sylmar boy who allegedly threatened a classmate with a BB gun two weeks ago.

In the wake of the slayings, the Los Angeles school system has also instituted spot weapons checks on campus with hand-held metal detectors.

Nick said use of the devices is an option at Notre Dame as a “last resort,” but said the school will first try to increase safety by alerting students, teachers and parents to the issue of weapons on campus and by reviewing its current security precautions.

In a separate action, the Burbank Board of Education voted Tuesday night to expel a seventh-grade student for bringing a BB gun to school. The student, who attended Muir Middle School, was expelled for the remainder of the academic year and may apply for readmittance in May to attend school in the fall, said Arthur Pierce, superintendent of schools in Burbank.

Pierce said the action by the board would send a message that “bringing a gun to school is totally unacceptable.”