Thread: Latinos, blacks fight whites at Hart High; 4 students arrest

http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_3764566

Article Launched: 4/29/2006 12:00 AM


Latinos, blacks fight whites at Hart High; 4 students arrested

BY SUE DOYLE, Staff Writer
LA Daily News

NEWHALL - Fighting between white, black and Latino students Friday at Hart High School resulted in the arrests of four teens, a sheriff's sergeant said.
Students were arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse, said sheriff's Sgt. Cortland Myers, adding that the fight appeared racially motivated. There were no injuries.

Witnesses said black and Latino classmates teamed up together and fought white students during lunch in retaliation for a fight between two teens at the school on Thursday when racial names were called.

William S. Hart Union High School District officials said it was not known what started the fighting or whether it was racially based.

Students on campus had other impressions.

"It was racial. All the Mexican and blacks gathered up and fought the whites," said Agustin Chavez, 15. "It was a rumble."

The freshman was off campus when fighting broke out about 12:35 p.m. and watched from the street as sheriff's deputies swarmed the school to intervene.

Friday's fight involved an estimated 20 students, who had first formed a large circle on the school's quad. At first, the teens stood in the circle, posturing and staring one another down. Then a group splintered off and fought, Myers said.

Principal Gary Fuller and other school officials were in the middle of that circle, trying to calm students when the fighting began and did not see where it started.

"They were in a circle looking at one another, and we were in the middle," he said. "Something happened off the circle."

Fuller said the school got word earlier in the day about the possibility of unrest on campus, and that he and others spread through the school to quell any uneasiness. He said it was not known whether Thursday's fight spilled over to the altercations on Friday.

After the fights, the school went into lockdown. Gates were snapped shut, and school staff monitored entrances. Even a garbage truck was turned away.

Students were told to go to their sixth-period classes. Between 50 and 75 students resisted and were then confronted by sheriff's deputies.

Some teens fled the campus and called parents and friends on their cell phones for rides home. Meanwhile, a helicopter flew overhead and broadcast an order for students to return to class.

"I busted out of there," said Bethany Barwell, 16, as she ran past a fleet of squad cars.

The commotion drew residents across the street from the school, who craned their necks from the windows of their apartments to see what was happening.

Deputies escorted students off campus classroom by classroom. About 75 parents waited for them on auditorium steps, underneath trees and across the school's front lawn.

With one son by her side, Robin Simons of Valencia scanned the crowd, looking for her other boy to come out of the school.

When she first learned of the lockdown, she said she immediately flashed back to a race riot she witnessed as a student in the 1970s at Granada Hills High School. She was saddened at the thought of students today experiencing the same tension again.

"Nothing has changed over time. It just moved one valley over," she said. "It's so scary."

In February, nine students from Golden Valley High School were arrested and booked on suspicion of battery after a campus brawl fought along racial lines.

sue.doyle@dailynews.com

(661 )257-5254

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_122115542.html

May 2, 2006 10:48 am US/Pacific

MySpace.com Posting Causes Scare At Hart High

(CBS) SANTA CLARITA, Calif. A posting on myspace.com about Tuesday being "bring a weapons to school day" prompted sheriff's deputies to monitor students arriving at Hart High School in Newhall, a radio station reported.

School officials called parents Monday evening to let them know that administrators were aware of the posting.

Extra deputies were assigned to the campus Tuesday.


Also this HS was heavily involved in the walk outs and protests from the following article.

On Friday, A fight broke out at the school last week and classes were dismissed early.

http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_3773550

The number of students who played hooky Monday was similar to the number who walked out of class in late March in response to proposed federal immigration legislation. About 40,000 high school students throughout the county took to the streets then during the first day of walkouts. Many of them were angered at proposals to deport those in the country illegally. To the American-born students, that would mean their parents would be sent away and their families would be split up.

Nearly 200 of the students who protested in March hailed from the William S. Hart Union High School District. Although schools were still tallying up Monday's absences at day's end, some had their figures. At Hart High, 659 students were reported absent, more than double the average daily absentee rate.

This is bad. Americans, ALL Americans of every color need to stick together

Originally Posted by ConcernedCitizen

This is bad. Americans, ALL Americans of every color need to stick together

this is awful, thank God school is almost out. I guess we can all thank the President and Congress for endangering the children of this country -- the situation they have created is more volatile than Columbine.

I think it's about time the governors started standing up and take matters in their own hands and stop depending on the federal government

I would seriously be concerned if my son attended that school or any other school with a large illegal student population.

Originally Posted by lsmith1338

I would seriously be concerned if my son attended that school or any other school with a large illegal student population.

With summer coming and restless kids I expect things to get
worse out here.

Commence the brainwashing!!!!!!

Diversity is our strength!!!!!!

Multi-culturalism makes us strong!!!!!!!

Yeah..... right.

America is gonna' be torn apart.

http://dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_3777402

Article Launched: 5/03/2006 12:00 AM


Nearly half of students absent

BY SUE DOYLE, Staff Writer
LA Daily News

NEWHALL - Rumors of violence at Hart High School that recently swept through the Internet kept nearly half the student body at home on Tuesday and a legion of sheriff's deputies on alert outside the campus throughout the day.

But in the end, the rumors turned out to be nothing more than that. By midday, the gossip was taken off MySpace.com, and normal activities resumed, despite the absence of about 1,400 students.

"Everybody's scared, and that kind of sucks," said Constance Hall, 18, as she walked off the campus.

Deputies patrolled the school and family neighborhood throughout the morning and later blocked off Newhall Avenue between 14th and 15th streets to any oncoming traffic, in response to threats of lunchtime violence. Eight squad cars sat outside the school while a sheriff's helicopter circled overhead.

Students appeared stunned at the large presence of law enforcement, as they stepped outside their classrooms and headed to the quad for lunch. Those wanting to leave or enter the school were asked for identification by district staff.

Tensions have been strained at the school since Friday when four students were arrested on campus after some 50 to 75 students squared off to fight. The crowd was dispersed by sheriff's deputies, who said the would-be fight appeared racially motivated - whites versus blacks and Latinos.

Students said Friday's fight had escalated from an altercation between two students that involved racial name-calling on Thursday.

Friday's fight played a significant role in Tuesday's heavy presence of law enforcement, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Gregg Lewison.

"Because of what happened Friday and coupled with rumors over the weekend and information from students, we thought it was a good idea to get the resources to the school and to be ready if something should happen," Lewison said.

Deputies were on alert throughout the day at other campuses in the William S. Hart Union High School District. At Golden Valley High School, 10 students were taken into the principal's office after they were posturing at lunch, but nothing more happened there, Lewison said.

Some Hart High students who headed off campus for lunch on Tuesday said anger was still lingering at the school from the recent fights. They wondered if that fueled the rumors about more violence happening at the school.

"It was supposed to be a one-on-one fight against a black and (a) white, and everyone took it the wrong way," said Andres Herrero, 17.

The district notified parents with automated phone messages on Monday about various rumors circulating on its campuses and said there would be increased police presence at schools.

Superintendent Jaime Castellanos said it wasn't uncommon to see tensions rise on campuses as stresses outside schools are increasing with gas prices, the economy and the politics of immigration.

He recalled similar unrest among students at a previous district he worked at when Proposition 187 was on the ballot. The 1994 measure would have denied health care, welfare and public education to illegal immigrants.

"I think that society is often reflected in our schools," he said. "Parents are struggling to survive and trying to make ends meet. It does have an impact."

sue.doyle@dailynews.com

(661)257-5254


http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... california


MySpace Posting Upsets School
Half the students at Hart High School stay home after online message says 'bring your weapons.'
By Ashraf Khalil and J. Michael Kennedy
Times Staff Writers

May 3, 2006

It has been a scary, and sometimes violent, few days at Newhall's Hart High School, culminating Tuesday when about half the student body stayed home because of a threatening post on a popular online community.

First there were the fights along racial lines that broke out late last week. Then there was the message posted Monday on the MySpace website, proclaiming Tuesday as a "bring your weapons to school day" at Hart and other high schools in the district.

All stayed quiet Tuesday, but school officials were on high alert and security was tight. Officials said the rumors of what might happen were fed by students with instant communications at their disposal — namely, their cellphones.

"With cellphones and text messages, it's amazing how fast the rumors can fly," said Pat Willett, a spokeswoman for William S. Hart Union High School District.

The sequence of events began Thursday, when, school officials said, there was an altercation between an African American student and one of Middle Eastern descent. The cause of the fight was unclear, officials said.

By Friday, the student rumor mill was working overtime, so that by noon, Willett said, it was clear there was going to be trouble. At lunch, Hart students began gathering in the school's quad area.

"They were posturing," Willett said. "They were just glaring at each other."

Chris Wyatt, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy assigned to the school, described the scene as a "riot situation" in which there was "an obvious division along racial lines."

Wyatt said fights began to break out along the edges of the crowd.

Officials rang the school lockdown bell, which is reserved for emergencies. Some students did not return to their classrooms and threw rocks and plastic bottles at deputies. Four students were taken into custody, but there were no serious injuries. School was dismissed early.

Classes resumed uneventfully Monday, until the MySpace posting began circulating. It announced that Tuesday would be "bring your weapons to school day." The posting, school officials said, called on students at all five high schools in the district to bring their weapons. It also said Wyatt would be a target, as would white female students, particularly blonds.

School officials phoned parents late Monday, telling them that administrators knew of the posting and that extra deputies would be on duty Tuesday.

Willett said that because of the posting, about half of the 2,700 students at Hart stayed home; those who did show up were thoroughly searched. There were about a dozen deputies on the school grounds Tuesday, with plans to keep them there until officials were sure order had been completely restored.

Meanwhile, the talk among students about what might happen next stayed lively.

"Kids live on rumors and peer pressure, unfortunately," Wyatt said.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=4136372

Parents Pulled Students Out Of School

A posting on myspace.com about today being "bring your weapons to school day" prompted sheriff's deputies to monitor students arriving at Hart High School in Newhall

Santa Clarita, May 2, 2006 - Parents got a telephone call last night from school officials, saying that administrators were aware of the posting, and extra deputies would be assigned to the school at 24825 Newhall Ave.

On Friday, a fight broke out on the campus and school was dismissed early, but no one was hurt, the sheriff's department reported. Some kids say it was racially motivated. Deputies arrested four students.
This morning, authorities monitored arriving students, but no weapons were found. About half of the 2,800 students stayed home.

"We've heard rumors that this is a `red herring' day, that it could happen another day," said Pat Willett of the William S. Hart Union High School District late this morning.

"We've heard it's this campus. We've heard it's a number of campuses. It depends on what rumors you're listening to," she said. "We would certainly hope that the campus not only will return to normalcy tomorrow, we would hope it remains calm today."




http://www.the-signal.com/News/ViewStor ... oryID=9590

Hart’s Alert Remains Higher


5/4/2006
Bette Keva / Signal Staff Writer


High school and junior high campuses remained on heightened alert with increased police presence Wednesday as rumors of impending fights persisted, said Hart district spokeswoman Pat Willett.

Unlike Tuesday, when as many as 36 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies patrolled the Hart High School campus, on Wednesday only one to three deputies patrolled the district’s campuses.

Unsubstantiated rumors continued to fuel the need for the police presence.

The mother of a West Ranch High School boy said her son called her saying he heard that students from Hart High were coming to West Ranch to beat up white kids.

When told of the claim, Willett said the William S. Hart High School District had heard the same thing.

“There are rumors now about West Ranch,” Willett said. “We haven’t seen anything on MySpace.com (a Web site on which posted rumors of fights sparked Tuesday’s police presence at Hart High). We asked kids. It’s all second-hand. No one has any real knowledge of anything. We’re staying on heightened alert.”

Hart district officials said there were between 1,200 and 1,400 absences Tuesday at Hart High, representing half the student body. On Wednesday school officials scaled down that number to 837.

Since many students left Hart High early Tuesday, the unofficial numbers were much higher, Willett said. A student isn’t counted as absent unless he or she is out of class at lease three periods.

Tuesday’s large police presence at Hart High, stemming from rumors that there would be fights, caused students at some of the district’s schools to stay home, but not in appreciable numbers, Willett said.

While Willett did not yet have exact figures for Wednesday, she said there was lower attendance than normal at Arroyo Seco Junior High and slightly lower than normal at Valencia High.

At Placerita Junior High, which is a block away from Hart High, attendance was down 18 percent.

At Saugus High, fewer than 10 students were out because of safety concerns. At Sierra Vista Junior High, four or five students stayed home because of safety concerns.

Willett did not have the figures for West Ranch High.

The rest of the Hart district schools reported about normal absenteeism for Tuesday.

Four students were arrested in Friday’s upheaval at Hart High that involved 40 to 60 students. They were either involved in sporadic fights or defied officials’ orders to return to school, Willett said.

Another 12 to 15 Hart High students were identified as active participants and all will face discipline of some sort, Willett said.

“The administration of Hart High is looking at the names, the charges and determining the appropriate discipline. They may or may not be back in school (now) and some could be recommended for expulsion,” Willett said.

Students will face the normal procedure for suspensions and expulsions, she said.

Willett did not know if there are surveillance cameras at Hart High, which might have captured images from Friday’s melee.

In a move to get to the core of the fighting and the rumors, district diversity coordinator Greg Lee and other administrators will be on Hart High’s campus today to speak to students in small groups. The idea is to allow students the freedom to talk about what is bothering them. They will then join a larger group to attempt to get to the core of the problem, Willett said.