Simi Schools Appeal to Parents for Help in Curbing Violence : Safety: The plea comes soon after one summer session student is cut with a knife by a classmate.

The day after a 14-year-old girl admitted slashing a classmate with a knife, Simi Valley school officials issued a broad appeal Friday for parents to help stop campus violence.

In a letter sent home with more than 500 summer school students, Simi Valley Unified School District officials also urged students to turn in classmates who bring knives, guns and other weapons to school.

“It should be stressed that conflict should be settled with words, not violence,” wrote Jan Britz, summer principal at Hillside Junior High, in the letter to parents.

“If they know of a weapon or sharp object on campus, they must tell an adult,” Britz wrote. “It is extremely difficult to stop fights and weapons from coming on any campus unless students are willing to report them.”

Campus safety has been under intense scrutiny in Simi Valley since an eighth-grade boy was fatally stabbed in February. And concern intensified following Wednesday’s after-school attack by one Hillside student on a 13-year-old classmate.

Assistant Supt. Susan Parks said school officials dispatched the letter to inform parents of the incident and avoid the type of criticism directed at district officials after the killing of Valley View Junior High student Chad Hubbard six months ago.

“We didn’t want parents to think we were trying to hide something,” she said. “After the Valley View (stabbing), the slightest little thing would happen, rumors would fly and somebody would accuse us of hiding something.”

Parks said school officials also wanted to use the incident to remind parents of the importance of teaching nonviolent ways to settle differences.

“Parents are just going to have to take that role,” she said. “You hear parents all the time say, ‘I taught my kids to stand up and whack them one.’ The only hope we have for kids lies with the parents and adults.”

Sharon Hushka, a Simi Valley parent serving on a school safety task force, said the district reacted quickly after the killing of Chad Hubbard, but did not continue to press the issue.

“Hopefully, they’ll use this as one more reason to develop conflict-resolution programs,” she said of Wednesday’s incident.

The Simi Valley school board is expected to discuss long-term ways to improve campus safety at meetings next fall. Recommendations from the district task force include tightening dress codes, teaching cultural awareness and keeping suspended students is special classes on campus.

Board member Debbie Sandland praised Britz for sending the letter home so quickly after Wednesday’s fight.

“It’s a high-profile incident,” she said. “The Chad Hubbard killing was not even a year ago and people are concerned.”

According to police and school officials, Wednesday’s fight began when a 14-year-old girl began yelling curses at a 13-year-old female classmate on the Hillside campus. A short time later the girls walked off the campus and began fighting.

During the exchange, the 13-year-old was cut several times on the chest and arms, police said. She was treated at Simi Valley Hospital, but the injuries were not reported to school officials until later. On Thursday, the 14-year-old turned herself into police and admitted using a short, retractable razor knife during the fight.

Simi Valley Police Lt. Mark Layhew said the attack is still under investigation.

Assistant Supt. Parks said although fights during summer school are rare, violence involving teen-agers typically increases during the summer. And, she said, it is not unusual for junior high students to be involved. “They don’t think about consequences,” she said. “They allow the emotions of the moment to carry them to this.”

Times correspondent Tracy Wilson contributed to this story.