3 Expelled for Allegedly Having Weapons at School

Ocean View School District trustees Tuesday expelled three boys who allegedly planned to hold a classroom at Marine View Middle School hostage with two loaded handguns, a machete and a knife.

The two 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old, who were not identified because they are minors, were expelled for allegedly possessing weapons on school grounds and for threatening to cause injury to others.

None of the three had previously been identified as a disciplinary problem, officials said.

Janet K. Reece, the school principal who disarmed the boys after being alerted by a pupil they tried to enlist in the alleged conspiracy, had recommended expulsion of the three youngsters. An administrative panel, made up of three district administrators, agreed after a daylong meeting Monday.

A new state law that took effect Oct. 19 requires expulsion of students who bring weapons to school. However, expulsion was not mandated in the Marine View incident because it occurred Oct. 7.

The expulsion came after 250 parents of Marine View pupils last month demanded that the boys be removed from school for the safety of the other 700 Marine View students. The boys had been suspended from school pending the expulsion hearings.

Huntington Beach police, who conducted the initial investigation, have recommended that two of the boys be charged with conspiracy to commit kidnaping and possessing a weapon on a school campus. Police recommended that the third boy be charged with conspiracy only.

Police also recommended that the parents of the 13-year-old boy be charged with making firearms accessible to children. The Orange County district attorney’s office is reviewing the case against the parents, Huntington Beach Police Officer Mike Corcoran said.

Ocean View Supt. James R. Tarwater said the reasons for the incident are not clear, but that one of the boys’ devotion to police television docudramas may have contributed.

Tarwater said the ousted boys can enroll in a home study program or the county’s independent study program.

Ocean View Trustee Carol Kanode said she will call for the district to offer courses in “ethic and social responsibility” in an effort to counter youth violence.