BURBANK : Search for Weapons Comes Up Empty

An unannounced inspection of lockers and a metal detector search of 42 students at Burbank High School on Thursday turned up no weapons, officials said.

It was the second time such searches have turned up nothing at the high school since the district began a crackdown on weapons last month. At John Burroughs High School, no metal detector searches have been conducted, but two locker checks, on March 23 and April 15, also found nothing.

“The most offensive things we found were a couple of lunches from October and a pair of tennis shoes which probably should be burned,” said Linda Rosen, president of the John Burroughs High School Parent-Teacher Assn. PTA members helped with the searches.

Keiko Hentell, principal of Burbank High School, said that the first search of lockers last Friday only uncovered a slingshot.

The searches may not be needed as frequently as school officials had planned, Burbank Unified School District Supt. Arthur Pierce said.

“Obviously, based on what we were finding in the lockers and based on other searches from a deterrent value we probably don’t have a high need for it,” Pierce said.

Recent shootings at Los Angeles schools have been the reason for a crackdown in Burbank, which also includes a new police policy last month to automatically arrest anyone found with a weapon on a school campus. Four Burbank students have been expelled this school year in weapons-related incidents.

“When you consider all the time and energy in this, I think our resources could be put to better use,” said Sharon Ranshaw, president of the Burbank High PTA, who was pleased with the news.