Feeling the Loss

More than 200 Woodbridge High School students made a solemn lunchtime visit Friday to the spot where a classmate died in a traffic accident 24 hours earlier.

The teens, many hugging and sobbing, gathered at a shrine of flowers, candles and photographs for sophomore Kristin Godfrey, 16, who was killed Thursday when the van in which she was riding hydroplaned on rain-slicked Alton Parkway and struck a utility pole.

“It’s the saddest day of the school year,” said Mauricio Escobar, 17, a Woodbridge senior.

As students mourned, school officials said that in the wake of the tragedy, they may review Irvine Unified School District’s open-campus policy, which allows Woodbridge High students with parental permission to leave for their 45-minute lunch break.

Irvine police statistics indicate that there were eight midday traffic accidents in 1998 involving teens.

“When there are kids out driving any time, there’s a potential for an accident,” Irvine Police Traffic Sgt. Denny Jenner said.

At school district headquarters, one official said the open-campus policy, in effect since 1972, may be revisited, but the consensus in the past has been that it encourages personal responsibility.

“If you restrict students, there’s always the problem of how do you keep them on campus? How do you guard a campus with no fences?. . . The kids find a way if they really, truly want to get off campus,” said Jerry Rayl, assistant to the superintendent.

Under the policy, parents submit written permission each year allowing their children to leave school at lunchtime. The policy does not differentiate between walking or driving off campus.

All four students involved in Thursday’s accident had such permission, district officials said. Police investigating the crash, in which the driver and two other passengers received minor injuries, said all four students apparently were wearing seat belts.

The 17-year-old driver apparently was not exceeding the posted 50 mph speed limit, police investigators said, though the vehicle may have been traveling too fast for road conditions--the crash occurred during a downpour.

The driver also had been licensed longer than the six months required by state law before teens may transport other teens without adult supervision, police said.

Irvine Unified’s Rayl said that through the years, district officials have contended that high school students are mature enough for the privilege of leaving campus for lunch.

He said the policy also benefits those who remain at school:The cafeteria is less crowded, and disruptions are less likely.

“Whenever you have that many kids gathering in one location, you have problems,” he said. “The larger the number, the more things happen.”

Some other school districts in Orange County, among them Santa Ana Unified, Anaheim Union and Huntington Beach Union high school districts, have closed campuses.

“We think it improves the learning environment,” said Susan Roper, superintendent of Huntington Beach Union. “There is just no place to go during the short lunch period.”

That district makes an exception for some upperclassmen, who may leave campus with parental permission. Garden Grove Unified has a similar policy allowing some seniors to leave campus and younger students at two campuses to do so if they live nearby.

Official policies, though, were not the focus Friday on the Woodbridge campus, where students left roses, balloons and a sunflower at Kristin Godfrey’s locker after a moment of silence at the campus flagpole. A dance scheduled for Friday night was canceled.

“People are crying in classes,” said junior Jen Grossman, 16. “Everyone is in shock.”

Assistant Principal Tom Nelson said, “It’s tragic. For many of these kids, this may be their first loss.”

A memorial service for Kristin is set for 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 23 Lake Road, Irvine.

Memorial contributions may be made to Woodbridge High School, Kristin Godfrey Memorial Fund.