Parents seek solutions at meeting about gun on Savage campus

A scant 100 Savage Middle School parents went to the school gym Thursday evening to get information and vent their frustration about the delay in being told of a handgun found at school last week.

“Completely unacceptable,” was parent Michael Houston’s assessment. “This is about our students. We have an absolute right to know if our children are safe.”

On Nov. 12, police were called to the north Modesto school after students reported seeing a handgun in a classmate’s backpack. A 12-year-old boy was cited and released to his parents on suspicion of bringing a firearm into a school zone. The gun was not loaded and the boy had no ammunition.

“The bottom line is, a weapon was brought to school. Regardless of how well it was handled, parents need to be notified,” said parent Harvey Grist.

The school notified parents of the incident Nov. 14, by email and letters, a delay Principal Mitch Wood said was his decision. “The situation had been dealt with,” he said. He did not want to cause a panic by sending out notices immediately, he added, and on Thursday, the incident was still being investigated.

“In retrospect, a communication that went out (quickly), that was succinct, would have been a good idea,” Wood said. “These kinds of events are big wake-up calls for us.”

More information will be given to students on what to do in emergencies, probably in classroom discussions, Wood said. A better anonymous reporting system than the bully box for drop-in notes in the library is being discussed, he said.

Parents also said they were concerned for the boy, and worried there might be a larger problem at the school of approximately 1,000 sixth- through eighth-graders.

“I want to know if the school is looking at the root cause of why this child brought this gun,” said Anastasia Mora, suggesting he might have been bullied, or in a gang. After the meeting, she said, “We can’t pretend because we live in a nice neighborhood those things don’t happen.”

The boy told officers he found the revolver at Freedom Park and forgot to take it out of his backpack. Administrators gave no further details about how the gun’s presence came to light.

Bringing a gun to school carries a mandatory recommendation of a one-year expulsion, through a legal process with appeals, said Heidi Reyes, director of student services for Sylvan Union School District.

Though no one could speak of the child or his case, she said there is customarily an immediate suspension in such cases so even through the expulsion is not final, the child does not come back to campus.

“Every single situation is different,” Reyes told parents. “Your children did the right thing. They came forward and everything is OK because of that.”

One mother said she would feel safer if there were metal detectors at the school, but another parent disagreed. “I’ve seen schools with the 7-foot fences topped with razor wire and metal detectors. You really don’t want that,” Doug Erb said.

“We would all rather have heard it sooner than later,” Erb said. But, he added, “a mob of people at the front gate would be the worst thing that could happen.”

Another parent said having a plan of where to go if there was an emergency to wait for their students would be helpful.

Walking back to his office, Wood said parent comments included good ideas. “We knew this was going to be difficult,” he said, “but there was some great feedback. We do need a plan for our parents. We have a (disaster) plan for the kids, but not a plan for our parents.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Parents seek solutions at meeting about gun on Savage campus."