By JEFF LIPTON and JOSEPH KELLARD
The middle school student, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, is accused of scribbling ³Death to OMS 5-14-07,² on a radiator in the boys¹ bathroom of the school, according to Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown. School officials investigated, narrowing down who used the bathroom at the time, and determined who it was at about 3 p.m.
³The student told the assistant principal that he wanted the day off,² Brown said in describing the student¹s motive behind the written threat. ³The kid said he was just copying what has been happening at the high school.²
Police were notified and the student was taken into custody. In addition to facing possible criminal charges after the case was turned over to the Juvenile Aid Bureau, the principal suspended the student for five days, and he faces a lengthier suspension pending the outcome of a superintendent¹s hearing this week, Brown said.
³These kids, when they do these things, they think they are going to get a day off from school, but we¹re not fooling around,² Brown said. ³These are serious things and there have to be repercussions and everyone is taking it very seriously. These incidents cause major disruptions in our lives and there has to be consequences [for students who make these threats].²
The incident at the middle school comes two days after graffiti was found in the girls¹ locker room at Oceanside High School, last Wednesday morning, in a message that stated, ³Death to OHS 5-11-07 Die.² Those two incidents come about three weeks after threatening messages were scribbled in the boys¹ bathroom at the high school on April 17 and in the girl¹s bathroom on April 19. School officials said it is not known whether the same student or students are responsible for more than one incident.
Police were immediately notified of last week¹s incident at the high school and school officials carried out their own investigation, interviewing students who had access to the girls¹ locker room, officials said.
³We take these incidents seriously and any students involved will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,² Principal Dorie Ciulla said in a letter to parents notifying them of the incident.
In the letter Ciulla also stated that students were expected to attend school as usual last Friday, the targeted day in the threat, and all classroom and Advanced Placement tests would be given as scheduled and regular instruction would take place in every class.
Students were advised to leave their backpacks home and those who brought them to school had them searched as they entered the building. Additional security staff was assigned to the school and a beefed-up police presence was visible outside the building.
³We were intensifying patrols in the area around the school,² said Deputy Inspector Kenneth Hettler of the 4th Precinct. ³The investigation is continuing.²
³We believe that incidents such as this should not compromise the quality of our educational and instructional program,² Ciulla said in her letter. ³It is unfortunate that such incidents occur. Please be assured that our students are in a safe and secure environment.²
Despite the threat, more than 90 percent of the students attended class, said Brown, who added that even more came to school last Friday than the previous Friday, when there was no threat. About 65 percent of the students attended OHS following last month¹s incidents, which threatened violence at the school on the eighth anniversary of the Columbine massacre and days after the mass murders at Virginia Tech.
³We had a great day at school on Friday. This tells me that our kids are saying enough is enough,² said Brown in reference to the 90 percent attendance figure.
Brown said school officials are determined to unmask those responsible for the threatening graffiti, saying, ³We want to find the kids who did this and have them arrested.²
Some OHS students who were interviewed by the Herald after last month¹s incidents said school officials may be overly aggressive in trying to find out who is behind the threats.
³At this point, they¹re looking to pin [it on] anyone,² said one student, who identified himself only as Rob. ³I mean a friend of mine, they even accused him of doing it. They were searching him for everything. They¹re looking to expel anyone. They¹re listening all around for comments. Even if people say something along the lines of all this, even in a joking way, they¹re right on top of them, accusing, looking to find out something.
³I don¹t want it to seem like [that it¹s because] this person looks a certain way, but that is what it seems like, and I think they¹re going to start singling people out,² he added.
Another student who identified himself as Mike said, ³They pulled out [of class] one boy just because he has a shaved head, and they said that he was reading a book about Nazis at one point.²
The superintendent called ³ridiculous² the claims that some students were being singled out and questioned for the way they look or act.
³That¹s simply not true,² Brown said. ³We¹re investigating this and talking to kids, a lot of kids, who were in the area [where the threats were made] in the hopes of finding the people doing this. We¹re not looking to Œpin¹ this on anyone.²
The series of threats have sparked increased frustration among district officials who said the incidents have become immensely disruptive and have wasted time better spent on classroom instruction.
The superintendent said the district is seeking ways to increase security. He added that he is satisfied with the complement of almost 20 security officers at the high school, but may seek ways to upgrade technology.
Allenby Lyson, school board president, agreed that the school board will begin to seriously discuss implementing closed-circuit cameras trained on the entrance to the bathrooms and other trouble spots.
³These incidents are very annoying, when kids do this because they want the day off,² Lyson said, adding that the cameras could at least keep track of who is coming and going at a certain time of the school day. ³I would suspect that we would approve it. We don¹t have a lot of time to waste.²
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