Security
becomes
Campbell’s
main issue

The bomb that hurt 10
has parents and teachers
searching for solutions

By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

The tremors from this week's explosion at James Campbell High School were not only felt by students -- their parents were shook up as well.

Safety for students, teachers and staff will be discussed at the Parent Teacher Student Association's regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday.

The item was put on the agenda after a homemade "sparkler bomb" this past Wednesday exploded in a stairwell of the school's math/science building, injuring 10 students.

Three students -- two 15-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy -- were arrested the next day in connection with the bombing.

"As a parent, it scares me to death," school PTSA President Cynthia Pinick said yesterday.

The incident marked the second major scare on the 2,300-student campus this school year.

On Sept. 21, a 17-year-old senior reportedly pointed a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol at students, a teacher and the vice principal. He then barricaded himself inside a portable classroom at the school.

A police SWAT team surrounded the classroom, and the boy eventually surrendered and was arrested.

During the 1997-1998 school year, an alumnus was stabbed by a 14-year-old student who claimed he had been threatened by gang members.

School security was beefed up after the two cases.

Pinick said the safety concern is more of a community than a school issue and that more 24-hour security guards won't make as big an impact as community involvement.