Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120333
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOL BOARD TIFF GETS PUBLIC AIRING
Roanoke School Board members didn't actually talk much about solutions to the problem of young people carrying guns.But they talked about talking about it.
Tuesday was the first time board members had met publicly since a Patrick Henry High School student was arrested in late January for bringing a gun to school. Board members' comments to the newspaper about the arrest had been followed by a memo from Superintendent Frank Tota suggesting that some of those comments were inappropriate.
That prompted more attention and more suggestions by Tota and a few board members that discussing such a serious topic be done at public meetings and not through the news media.
So following a brief introduction by Tota at the end of Tuesday's board meeting, each board member was given a chance to comment.
Charles Day, Thomas Orr and Marilyn Curtis had no comments.
Sallye Coleman had many, as she criticized board member Wendy O'Neil for her comments to the newspaper about the gun problem.
Coleman said such comments should be made in public and with other board members present so that all members can have input.
"To my mind, this whole issue is a political game plan to further a political agenda," she said. "I think it's pathetic."
She said the board should concentrate on helping children and not "petty things," like Tota's memo. Some board members misinterpreted the memo, which was not a directive on how to deal with the media but a "friendly reminder," she said.
"I hope this board can learn to pull together," Coleman said. "Let's move on and forget pettiness, political aspirations and the other little devious moves that we're about."
O'Neil defended her position and said her public comments were meant to focus attention on the problem and did not jeopardize the board's position, as some had suggested.
"I don't consider this a petty issue."
O'Neil also suggested that the board review its student behavior code and other policies and procedures that relate to students who bring guns to school.
"No one person is responsible for or accountable for weapons being brought to school. It is a community problem," she said.
Board Chairman Finn Pincus said board members should be able to speak out about a perceived problem, as long as that doesn't affect a case involving individual students.
And board member James Turner said comments from board members and City Council members in the newspaper about the memo gave the issue of guns in schools more publicity than it needed.
"If the School Board's ever going to discuss it, we should discuss it here," he said. "We don't want to overreact and sensationalize. . . . We don't want our parents to have a fear of sending their children to our schools."
Turner also criticized City Council for commenting on the memo. "I don't think that's their business, really," he said.
If council is concerned about guns in schools, Turner said, they need to fund the $186,500 in the School Board's budget to put three "resource officers" in each of the high schools. Resource officers are police officers who conduct drug awareness classes and serve as role models for students.
After those comments, Tota said he was pleased that matters were discussed in such a way.
"The problem I have is when we don't talk through sessions like this, but through the media," he said. "What I don't want is a frenzy . . . "