School News: Safety and Security Headlines, 2006

An assistant principal in charge of discipline atSacramento's Hiram Johnson High School is on administrative leave after being arrested last week on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs. ( Sacramento Bee)

Two parents are suing the Eanes (Texas) school district and Valley View Elementary School Principal Jennifer Dusek, alleging they did nothing to prevent their daughters from being sexually assaulted by a kindergarten classmate. Eanes Superintendent Nola Wellman denies the allegations and says "immediate and appropriate action was taken" by administrators once they learned about the alleged incident. ( Austin American-Statesman)

A freshman student walking to Brandon (Fla.) High School was struck and killed when a driver failed to stop for him in a marked crosswalk in front of the school. ( St. Petersburg Times)

Investigators are trying to determine why a 20-year-old student from Naperville, Ill., was found dead in his room at a Southern Methodist University fraternity house in Dallas. ( Dallas Morning News)

For the second time in a little more than two weeks, a robber armed with a shotgun has preyed on University of Memphis students. As two female students walked toward their car on the west side of campus, three men, one armed with a shotgun, pulled up in a grey sedan and took the students' personal items. ( Memphis Commercial Appeal)

At least 21 people were killed at school during the 2004-05 academic year, a slight increase from the year before, according to a study by the federal government's Bureau of Justice Statistics. Overall, the study says, fewer students reported being the victims of violent crime at school or school-sponsored events in 2004-2005. ( Miami Herald)

Memphis City Schools has launched a program aimed at preventing suicides and teaching students how to recognize the signs. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether a high school student had a free-speech right to unfurl a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a school-sponsored event. A ruling on the issue could clarify the extent to which school officials can control slogans on banners, T-shirts and the like at school events. ( Los Angeles Times)

A Naperville, Ill., man attending college in Dallas was found dead during the weekend at his fraternity house. Jacob Stiles, 20, a sophomore at Southern Methodist University, was found dead about 1:30 p.m. Saturday in his room at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house. ( Chicago Sun-Times)

Alternatives to Suspension, an initiative begun this year in the Miami-Dade district, aims to streamline the number of disruptive students sent home. Educators have found that off-campus suspension often turns into a short vacation for trouble-making students, who are likely to cause more mischief. ( Miami Herald)

Principal Ronan Matthew of Canyon Springs High School in the Clark County (Nev.) district wants to increase security by installing walk-through metal detectors on campus.( Las Vegas Review-Journal)

For the first time, Milwaukee police officers will be assigned to full-time duty inside city public schools under an agreement between police and the school system. ( Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Beginning in March, Seminole Ridge High School in the Palm Beach County (Fla.) district, will prohibit students from wearing "shirts with writing, pictures, and/or divisive images." The decision comes after rumors spread of potential trouble between white and black students, apparently driven in part by the desire of some students to display images associated with the Confederate States of America. ( South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

School officials in San Antonio use background checks to weed out employees who could harm your children at school. However, that doesn't stop students who are registered sex offenders from attending classes. ( KENS 5-TV)

Seven students Kelly High School in Chicago were taken to area hospitals after pepper spray apparently was discharged in the lunchroom. ( Chicago Tribune)

A fraternity house fire has killed one student at the University of Missouri at St. Louis ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Dressed in school uniforms and just steps from their homes, two teen-age students heading to Benito Juarez Community Academy in Chicago were shot Tuesday morning. The victims, 17 and 15, were taken to hospitals in critical condition. ( Chicago Tribune)

A student at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, has been placed under psychiatric care after speaking of plans to shoot high school students and place a bomb at Nacogdoches High School. Paul Miles, 22, originally of Hallsville, was taken to an undisclosed psychiatric facility after police found a pipe bomb, bomb-making components and a drug-production operation in his apartment. ( Marshall News Messenger)

Two teen-age boys have been charged with stealing a school bus from the St. Lucie County (Fla.) School District's compound in Fort Pierce and going on a 30-minute joyride before police shot out the tires. ( Palm Beach Post)

The Wichita (Kan.) school board has approved the city's proposal to pay half the cost of 22 police officers in schools by 2009. But the board wasn't happy about paying that amount. ( Wichita Eagle)

Birmingham, Mich., police plan to interview 10 to 15 people in connection with $17,000 that's missing from the Pierce Elementary School Parent Teacher Student Association. (Detroit News)

A former high school security guard who admitted to having sex with a student has been sentenced to six years in prison, but he will be incarcerated for less than half that term. Angel Heredia, 33, worked as a security guard at Santa Teresa High School, in the Gadsden (N.M.) Independent School District, when he became sexually involved with a 16-year-old female student. ( Las Cruces Sun-News)

A dummy hand grenade was found at Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., with a note saying more of the devices were hidden on campus. Classes were canceled, but a search did not uncover any more grenades. (Los Angeles Times)

More than a decade after the Dallas school district began running checks on applicants and employees, a Dallas Morning News investigation has found a system that still has holes and, at times, ignores district and state rules. Also: School district officials across North Texas say they work to assure that people with serious criminal records are not working with children. (Dallas Morning News)

Routine police patrols of common areas at Washington State University residence halls have been approved by the school's Board of Regents. (Seattle Times)

Everett, Wash., police are interviewing three suspects in connection with a series of bomb threats this fall at Everett High School. (Seattle Times)

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