Every morning, Magnet Coordinator James Morrison stands outside the school gates to ensure students cannot exit after entering the campus. This change was made following two separate incidents where students brought weapons on campus.
“It’s just all surprising to me because (the safety incidents) all happened in just a week,” freshman Gabrielle Turner said.
A student was arrested on suspicion of carrying a firearm on campus on Oct. 3. Students saw the firearm and alerted school officials, who called the Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD). LAPD was contacted during the past two months for information regarding the arrest, but due to the student being underage at the time of the arrest, no information was disclosed. Principal Kimberly Figueroa-Oliveira would not specify whether the student was expelled, but California Education Code 48915 mandates that school principals and superintendents must recommend expulsion for specific severe offenses, such as bringing weapons to school.
“I can’t say (that the student who was involved in the gun incident was expelled),” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “I don’t think they will be making a return to campus.”
Less than a week later, a different student was reported to school officials for carrying a knife on campus on Oct. 8. The Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) discipline policy BUL-6050.1 was followed to its full extent, according to Figueroa-Oliveira, who stated this when asked why the student is still attending campus. BUL- 6050.1 states that principals must recommend expulsion for a Category II offense unless they decide that it would be inappropriate in the situation.
“Both incidents were different, so the response requires different approaches,” said Figueroa-Oliveira, regarding the actions taken after the second incident. “Every student has different needs as well, so that also needs to take place when deciding how to move forward.”
The school responded to these situations by increasing campus supervision, continuing monthly assemblies, accepting feedback, implementing wanding at homecoming, ensuring students stay on campus once they are dropped off and conducting another safety meeting on Dec. 11.
These two events have left parents, students and faculty questioning how these incidents could have occurred at the school, the effectiveness of campus security and what could have been done to prevent them from happening in the first place.
“It’s overall frightening that students feel the need to bring weapons to school,” said parent Julie Heuer-Jones, the parent of a junior.
Opinions among parents are split regarding how the situations were handled, with some believing that school officials dealt with the issues well. Parent Gabriela Diaz Alegria, the parent of freshman Luca Alegria, stated that the school handled the incident “quickly, professionally, with grace and transparency” in response to a survey conducted by The Pearl Post on Instagram on Nov. 20. Parents exchanged ideas during a Zoom meeting held promptly after the gun incident, with the principal discussing different ways to prevent similar incidents from happening again on Oct. 6. One of these ideas was installing metal detectors, which cannot be implemented due to LAUSD’s BUL-5424.0 policy.
“I think the school handled it as well as they possibly could,” said Lisa Rubin, parent of former student Breanna Rubin. “If they had metal detectors, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place and that’s where I thought it was very important to have.”
There are concerns that the events could impact existing low enrollment issues and damage the school’s reputation. Some students transferred out because their parents felt uneasy about their children being on campus after these incidents. Rubin’s daughter is a student who transferred out after the gun incident.
“It’s good that they got him (the student with a gun) off the campus,” said former student Breanna Rubin. “But long-term, someone could just walk in there and do it again.”
Nationwide, gun violence has made schools feel unsafe. In an article by the Security Industry Association, a study by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) found that 10% of schools had experienced gun violence in the last five years. In addition to this percentage of schools, the CISA reported that 45% of teachers and other staff feel uneasy that their students will be victims or harmed in these dangerous situations.
“I think (school shootings) can definitely make someone afraid to come to school, or make them feel some sort of way about coming to school and meeting up with people or even just being in public,” freshman Luca Alegria said. “Once they figure out that a school shooting happens all the time, then they realize shootings can happen anywhere, so it kind of can get them.”
In the United States, school shootings happen about once every four weeks. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were about 116 reported cases of gun violence in U.S. schools since 2020. Following the pandemic, there was a significant increase in gun violence in schools, reaching 352 cases in 2023. In 2021, there were 257 reported school shootings and 308 in 2022. Then, in the most recent years, it decreased in 2024 with 336 incidents and this year there have been 217 gun violence incidents. Altogether, there have been 1,586 school shootings in the past five years.
Teachers overall feel that the issues were handled correctly. However, there are lasting concerns regarding how that information was withheld from them. Music teacher Wes Hambright continues to feel safe at the school, but brought up this concern in particular as he believes the school can improve on communication with staff during incidents similar to the ones that occurred.
“They didn’t tell us hardly anything,” Hambright said. “They said, ‘Oh, there’s a gun and that’s about it.’ When they think like this, we learn more from you guys (students) than we do from the staff.”
Students alike feel mixed about the situations, with some continuing to feel safe attending school. 29 students responded to a poll conducted through The Pearl Post Instagram. 13 said that they felt safe at school despite the incidents, while 16 stated that they did not. Freshman Ani Abraamyan said schools should “be more careful of everyone” in response to the poll and survey that were posted on Instagram.
The presence of staff and their ability to handle and protect students in events such as those that have occurred provides some solace to students. However, the shock factor of both situations has left others wary of student safety protocols and attending school.
“(School drills) make me feel more prepared in that aspect,” sophomore Mercygrace Gomez said. “However, realistically, gun shooters are not going to pass by your classroom thinking there’s no one in there when they went through the same exact process when they were younger.”
Student mental health has been a focal point and concern amongst parents and students as teens across the country experience a decline in mental health. This is associated with the intentions students might have when they bring weapons to school. Mental health services, like additional counseling, were offered to students and staff after the incidents. The school is currently working on developing a partnership with the Tarzana Health Center to obtain additional mental health resources for students, according to Figueroa-Oliveira.
“We’re going to start the conversation with Tarzana Health Center, which is a possible partnership,” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “I’m looking into how they can additionally support us, just by being creative and reaching out to local community partners to see if they can help us.”
Psychiatric Social Worker Joanne Tuell creates a comfortable environment for students to express their feelings and thoughts on stressful situations at the school.
“I try to reassure students that the school is a very safe place and that we take any concerns seriously,” Tuell said. “We encourage students, if they see something, to say something and it’s handled right away.”
