HUNTINGTON BEACH : School May Expel Boy Who Had Gun

An eighth-grade student at Talbert Middle School in Huntington Beach faces expulsion after being arrested last week for bringing a gun to school.

Fountain Valley School District officials said it was the first time in the district’s history that a student was caught carrying a gun to school.

The student had the unloaded, .38-caliber pistol and ammunition in his backpack when he came to school Thursday, Principal Carl Dane said.

Supt. Ruben L. Ingramsaid the student has been suspended and faces expulsion, which would be the first expulsion in the district’s history. The district has 11 schools, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Board of Trustees President Larry R. Crandallsaid the district has “zero tolerance” for weapon-toting students, emphasizing that the responsibility for preventing such incidents must start at home with parents.

“We’re not going to tolerate it, that’s for sure,” Crandall said.

“Part of our message is just to remind people that you just can’t be careful enough about guns in the home.”

Dane mailed letters Friday to the parents of Talbert’s 580 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students explaining the incident, in which several students went to school authorities when they learned that the eighth-grader had a weapon.

The boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, told Dane that he carried the weapon for protection.

“He said that he had some problems with an 18-year-old and that he was afraid,” Dane said.

Dane said his student reportedly brought the gun from home, but “whether it was his mother’s or father’s, or someone else’s in the home, I don’t know.”

The incident is among a number in Orange County involving students who have brought weapons onto school grounds. It has caused greater vigilance by school authorities.

“I guess we’re not immune,” Ingram said, adding that it could happen anywhere. But he said, “I wish it wouldn’t happen here.”

In Buena Park, for example, two fifth-grade students were transferred to other schools after they recently threatened another student with a pellet gun. As a result, Buena Park School District plans to be the first in Orange County to use hand-held metal detectors to screen students suspected of carrying weapons.

Eileen Gardner, co-president of Talbert’s parent-teacher organization, said the letter from Dane to parents was a good idea and helped to inform parents of the facts.

“I think they did a wonderful job the way they handled this,” Gardner said.

Supt. Ingram said awareness is the best defense in keeping weapons from being brought to schools.

“There’s a lot of denial out there, and as soon as people begin to accept the fact that these situations occur, that’s a big first step,” he said.

As many as four students were aware that the boy had the gun in his possession and stepped forward to tell school officials, Dane said.

“There was a willingness to come forward,” Dane said. “Students aren’t going to tolerate weapons on campus or sit silently without reporting them.”