Attack on Teacher Fuels Dispute Over Security : Violence: Pasadena school officials call the beating an isolated incident that the victim could have prevented. But some in the district call for beefed-up patrols.

Physical education teacher Pamela Altea remembers being punched 10 times in the face by an apparent gang member who had walked onto the campus of Washington Middle School in Pasadena, where she teaches.

“He hit me right by the temple and nearly knocked me down,” she said. “Then he kept beating me and beating me.”

A week later, Altea is afraid to return to the school to teach, tighter security is being called for at Pasadena schools and school officials say the attack is an isolated incident that could have been prevented if Altea had followed correct security procedures.

As Altea was about to drive away from the school Feb. 10 about 9:50 a.m., she noticed two teen-agers dressed in gang attire approaching a gate to the campus. She had left the gate open because of a faulty lock, Altea said. She got out of her car and was telling the two youths they were not allowed on campus when one of them began hitting her.

“I was screaming and terrified and shaking, and he was just staring in my eyes, and I thought, ‘Oh no, he’s going to finish me off because I’ve identified him,’ ” said Altea, who has taught at the 750-student school for eight years.

No arrests have been made in the attack.

Although there is no written district policy on locking gates, Washington Principal Karen Kommer said it is standard procedure at the school to relock gates after they have been opened. Altea made a mistake by walking away with the gate open, Kommer said. When she discovered the lock was broken, Altea should have immediately notified a security aide on campus, Kommer said.

“The teacher put herself in jeopardy in this incident,” Kommer said.

School board President George Van Alstine agreed. “Had the gate not been left open, the attack wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

“I think this attack was an anomaly, and I don’t think this is likely to happen again on campus. I don’t think faculty or students need to be looking over their shoulders all the time,” Van Alstine said.

Supt. Vera Vignes and Jarado J. Blue, chief of the district’s police force, also said Altea should not have left the gate open. But they are seeking more money to beef up security on campuses. Statistics for the district from October, 1992, to June, 1993, show that more than 300 crimes were reported. About 36 of those crimes, including an assault with a deadly weapon, three cases of battery and several burglaries, occurred on or near the Washington campus.

The district’s seven police officers started carrying handguns in November, 1992, after there were a dozen run-ins with armed students. The district has 31 unarmed security aides who also patrol the campuses.

Budget constraints are slowing the hiring of two additional officers but Vignes told the Pasadena City Council on Tuesday that she hopes to hire the officers by the end of this fiscal year.

Vignes agreed to a request from the council to compile an updated list of crime statistics by the end of the month.

“I’m having a very hard time convincing my peers in other parts of (Los Angeles County) with kids that it’s a good decision to move to Pasadena,” said Councilman Bill Crowfoot, because of fears that recent violence, including the killing last Halloween of three teen-agers, will keep people and businesses away from Pasadena.

United Teachers of Pasadena President Frank Scoonover agreed that more security is needed at the schools, although he acknowledged that Altea may have made a mistake in confronting the youths and leaving the gate open.

“I think this district needs to pay more attention to security,” he said. There was an incident at Muir High School on Feb. 8 involving guns, he said. “It is very scary being a teacher nowadays.”

Community correspondent Richard Winton contributed to this story.