No Exceptions to Gun Rule

There should be no action short of dismissal for a Los Angeles Unified School District employee who carried a handgun on district property. He should not be allowed to quietly retire with perks including more than $60,000 in accrued sick leave. The district’s zero-tolerance weapons policy for schools should be applied to district headquarters as well, no matter how high up the violator.

The Board of Education and Supt. Ruben Zacarias can settle the matter Monday when they take up the case of Jim Samples, who was the manager in charge of district maintenance. The issue arose last October when Samples claimed he was shot in the midsection by a masked intruder in a parking garage at the school district’s downtown headquarters. Police investigators dismissed his account, saying they thought the wound had been self-inflicted. Samples said he was armed because of anonymous death threats, perhaps from employees he had disciplined.

School district lawyers, mindful of some ambiguous circumstances in the case and fearful of a court challenge that could return Samples to his job or cost the district a bundle, negotiated a settlement that would allow him to remain on paid leave until November, then retire and collect his sick pay, which he would lose in a dismissal. The lawyers’ argument may be fiscally persuasive, but the zero-tolerance principle shouldn’t be for sale.

The board adopted its automatic expulsion policy, which applies to guns, knives and other weapons, in 1985. The guideline, intended to make campuses safer, also applies to district employees. As school board member Jeff Horton noted at last week’s board meeting, it would be hypocritical to let an employee violate a district policy that routinely results in the expulsion of students.

Parents have every right to expect their children to be safe at school, and if they have business at the LAUSD’s downtown headquarters. The board and superintendent should reject the proposed settlement and put everyone on notice: Absolutely no weapons are allowed on school district property.