Uneasy Schools : Some Campuses Prepare for Verdicts in King Case; Others Are Unaware of District’s Plan

Outside the LAPD’s 77th Street Division station Thursday, city workers were laying down lines of yellow masking tape, marking parking spots on the street for the police vehicles that will congregate if violence follows the verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial. But a short distance away, at 75th Street Elementary School, students were making their own, more hopeful preparations, tying red, white and blue balloons to the chain-link fence and singing songs of peace and unity.

As worried citizens arm themselves, police prepare their biggest show of force in L.A. history and politicians worry over the impact on the upcoming mayoral race, children in Los Angeles schools are being urged through classroom activities and schoolwide assemblies to remain calm, no matter what the jury decides in the closely watched civil rights case.

The Los Angeles Unified School District appealed to its 650 schools to sponsor some form of unity activities Thursday to promote peace. But many schools did not comply, and several teachers complained that they were unaware of the theme.

They also complained that the district has not made safety training available in the event of civil unrest, leaving them at a loss to answer students’ questions about how to cope.

“I didn’t know there was a plan,” said Bruce Williams, a history teacher at Jefferson High. “We’ve pretty much been left to our own resources, so I’ve just had to play it by ear.”

But several schools--mostly those in areas hit hard by last year’s riots--offered elaborate programs and classroom activities, allowing thousands of students to spend the day contemplating what lies ahead.

“As it gets closer (to the verdicts), I can feel a little more tension in my students,” said Roxanne Basso, a fifth-grade teacher at 75th Street Elementary, which was closed for two days during the height of last year’s riots. “They’re equating the trial with violence. They feel that’s what caused the problem last time, so they worry about what’s going to happen this time.”

Students can recall buildings burning in their South Los Angeles neighborhoods, the noise of the helicopters overhead and the fire sirens wailing, as well as the sight of National Guard troops camped out on their playground.

“They have really strong feelings that they’re trying to sort out in their 10-year-old way,” said Basso. “We’re trying to help them understand what happened and make the right decisions if that time comes again.”

So on Thursday, her class talked of racism and inequality, and of peace and unity, and how to get there from here. And they focused on what Basso called “the positive things” that have happened since the unrest:

The gas station that burned down on the corner near the school is open again. So is the nail salon, the grocery market, the doughnut shop and the Chinese restaurant.

And what about the spirit of cooperation that swept the city in the wake of the riots? People planted trees and helped with the cleanup, the students recalled. “And they gave us some of their own clothes and their own food to help us,” remembered Kaleef Stephens.

Basso said teachers at her school have been briefed on emergency procedures and parents have been notified that school will remain open, with the children locked inside if problems occur around the campus.

But teachers at many schools complain that they have not been advised of special safety precautions, and the head of the teachers union blames district leaders for failing to inform parents, teachers and other campus workers of plans to ensure student safety.

“We’ve been getting hundreds of calls from teachers wondering what is going to be done to make sure they and their students are safe,” said United Teachers-Los Angeles President Helen Bernstein.

Associate Supt. Ruben Zacarias said district leaders met with Los Angeles police officials to develop procedures to protect school employees, students and property.

But he conceded that most schools will have to rely largely on their generic disaster plans--developed primarily for use during earthquakes--for guidance.

With verdicts possible by the time school resumes Monday, Bernstein criticized the district for offering too little, too late.

“All they can say is ‘Don’t worry, everything’s under control. Every school has a plan.’ But the verdict is coming down, and what could happen if people take to the streets is very different from what is described in the earthquake disaster plan,” she said.

Zacarias defended the district’s plan. Officials did not want to cause alarm by offering detailed disaster scenarios built around a riot that may never happen, he said.

The district plan orders schools not to dismiss early on the day the verdicts are returned, he said. Instead, campuses may be locked down and teachers instructed to remain with their students until they can be safely dismissed.

School buses traveling into areas affected by any unrest will be rerouted to campuses in safer areas and parents notified either by phone or through broadcasts on the district’s television station, KLCS, Zacarias said.

But several teachers said they have been told nothing of the plan, and they criticized the district for not aggressively finding ways to protect students.

Under state law, teachers are required to remain with their students until their safety can be assured in a civil disturbance.

But many teachers say they have not been made aware of that requirement so they could make plans to accommodate their own family needs. “I know most of the teachers at my school don’t realize we have to stay until the last child goes home,” said Becki Robinson at 1st Street Elementary.

“We’ve got parent conferences scheduled next week, and we don’t know what to do about those if the verdicts come in. For a district that’s been through this before, you’d think they’d do a better job.”

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