School children's safety - Guns, Bus driver DUI, Bus Pollution

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A Charlotte-Mecklenburg school bus driver was arrested Tuesday and charged with driving with alcohol in his system, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokeswoman Jerri Haigler said.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12iatf2d5/*http%3A//www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/10795541.htm

[Scoop]

A bus driver was fired from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Wednesday, one day after he was charged with driving students with alcohol in his system.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=121r36e2j/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/10802839.htm

[Christine]

This story was picked up nationwide. Not exactly the kind of Advertising Charlotte needs right now.

[HopewellThespian]

And the kind of attention CMS is dying to avoid.

[EFM]

And they still think busing is the answer... :confused:

[Scoop]

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested a school volunteer Wednesday while the man was helping at an after-school program at First Ward Elementary.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11sio8pf7/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/10872351.htm

[Scoop]

According to guidelines set by CMS, all visitors to any school in the district are supposed to have a badge or sticker. If not, a teacher should notice and escort that person to the main office.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11scrb0k3/*http%3A//www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/4217949/detail.html

[callmeskywalker6]

I don't know how far badges and stickers are going to go to keep me safe....

[Scoop]

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools specialist was suspended with pay after a family reported that its 11-year-old autistic son's arm was broken while he was restrained in school on Friday.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11sf888u4/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/10959073.htm

[tcgb]

I worked with kids and this would never happen. The method or actions that are being done will not hurt the child, if done correctly.

[Scoop]

Everyday, Curtis Tolliver walks to West Mecklenburg High School. But the sidewalk ends, forcing him and every other student to either cut through yards or walk on a busy stretch of Tuckaseegee Road.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11sv638a9/*http%3A//www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/4239683/detail.html

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Two minors were charged with possessing and concealing a gun on school grounds after the unloaded weapon was found in a crayon box at a middle school.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12ic2mkc6/*http%3A//www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/11031331.htm

[Christine]

I heard an interview with an elemtary school child this morning on WBT. The gun found yesterday was due to her speaking up. She knew it was important to tell that there was a gun being flashed in school. She told someone. Her grandmother is now worried about her safety because all the kids are mad at her.

I didn't catch the whole interview, does anyone know more about this? Is she in an urban school?

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two minors are charged with possessing and concealing a gun on school grounds after the unloaded weapon was found in a crayon box at a middle school.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11gdcalj1/*http%3A//www.wral.com/news/4246836/detail.html

[Staff]

Student Threatened At Charlotte Middle School
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
A student at JT Williams Middle School will be escorted to classes by administrators after an incident involving a gun Monday. A 12-year-old girl was threatened by other students for telling on a boy who brought a gun to school.

The girl told WBTV News Tuesday night that the boy flashed the gun, then cocked it back toward her. Her grandmother fears for her safety and wants her transferred to a new school immediately.

School officials say the boy who had the gun has been suspended and police are investigating the incident.

[karlsaal]

:detective It is unlawful for any person to possess any firearm in any public or private school building or bus, campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic field or other property used or owned by an educational institution. It is unlawful for any person to carry a firearm into any assembly where a fee has been charged for admission or where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed. This does not apply to the owner or lessee of the premises, a person participating in the event and carrying a firearm with the permission of the owner, or a person registered or hired as a security guard by the owner, lessee, or the person or organization sponsoring the event.

It is unlawful for any person under 18 to possess or carry a handgun. This prohibition shall not apply to personnel of the Armed Forces of the U.S. when in discharge of their official duties or acting under orders requiring them to carry handguns, for educational or recreational purposes while supervised by an adult who is present, an emancipated minor who possesses such handgun inside his or her residence, and possession while hunting or trapping with written permission from a parent, guardian or other person standing in loco parentis.

It is unlawful for any parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis to permit his child under the age of 12 to possess or use "any gun," loaded or unloaded, except when the child is under their direct supervision.1 Subject to a few exceptions, it is unlawful for any other person to furnish any firearm to a child.

Any person who resides in the same premises as a person under 18, owns or possesses a firearm, and stores or leaves the firearm in a condition that the firearm can be discharged and in a manner that the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised minor would be able to gain access to the firearm, is guilty of a misdemeanor if a minor gains access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor's parents or person having charge of the minor. This prohibition does not apply if the minor obtained the firearm as a result of an unlawful entry by any person.

No political subdivisions, boards, or agencies of the state nor any county, city, municipality, municipal corporation, town, township, village, nor any department or agency thereof, may enact ordinances, rules or regulations concerning legally carrying a concealed handgun. This does not prohibit a unit of local government from posting against carrying where state law forbids concealed firearms, on local government buildings, their appurtenant premises, and parks. Unless otherwise permitted by statute, no county or municipality, by ordinance, resolution, or other enactment, shall regulate in any manner the possession, ownership, storage, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, or registration of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, dealers in firearms, or dealers in handgun components or parts.

The General Assembly has declared that the lawful sale and use of firearms and ammunition is not an unreasonably dangerous activity and does not constitute a nuisance. No government entity, agency, department or authority in the state may pursue an action for damages, abatement, injunctive relief, or any other remedy related to the lawful manufacture of firearms or ammunition. Only the Attorney General, acting on behalf of the state, is authorized to bring a suit against a firearms or ammunition manufacturer with regard to the lawful manufacture of firearms or ammunition. A local government entity is only authorized to bring an action for breach or contract or breach of warranty.

[Scoop]

Teen abuducted from bus stop, assaulted

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will increase security at school bus stops in south Charlotte today following the abduction and sexual assault of a student early Thursday.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=11s1n13ap/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/11047712.htm

[Scoop]

A week-long search for the man who kidnapped and raped a 16-year-old student last week ended early Friday morning when police arrested Eric Jason Washington.

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/mecklenburg/?AC=&ArID=88693&SecID=3 (http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/mecklenburg/?AC=&ArID=88693&SecID=3)

[Scoop]

By Kevin Rothstein
Friday, March 11, 2005

A North Carolina teacher quit his post this week in the wake of a Herald report showing how he kept teaching despite losing his license in Massachusetts in a pornography scandal, officials said.
James Ballard, 57, had been placed on leave while the Rowan-Salisbury School System and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction investigated his troubled past.
``He resigned on Monday,'' said Dawn Creason, spokeswoman for the Rowan-Salisbury school district.
The Herald reported last week that Ballard was teaching science at Salisbury High School despite having been forced to resign as assistant superintendent in West Springfield in 2000.
Police have told the Herald that they investigated Ballard after an Internet pen pal of his reported that he had asked her to take pornographic pictures of her pre-teen daughter.
The Massachusetts Department of Education ultimately revoked his educator's license but not before he renewed his North Carolina license.

Link to original... (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=72729)

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Peanut products soon will be suspended at all Charlotte-Mecklenburg County schools because of a growing number of children with potentially deadly food allergies.

http://newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2217091p-8597797c.html
(http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12963mr00/*http%3A//newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2217091p-8597797c.html)

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Ten students from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools received an award Thursday night for doing the right thing. The "Do the Right Thing" quarterly event included Rafael Wright, a third-grader at Pawtucket Elementary School who saw another student with a knife.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=129nsh3o2/*http%3A//www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?ArID=89267&SecID=2

[Dave Pinard]

A Martin Middle School student has been arrested and charged with possessing a firearm at a bus stop. The boy brought the gun to his bus stop Thursday morning, then tried hiding it nearby. He will be suspended from school for at least 365 days under N.C. law, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokesman Damon Ford said. This is at least the sixth gun found at a bus stop or on Charlotte-Mecklenburg school property this school year -- and at least the fourth found this semester. -- PETER SMOLOWITZ


Found here (http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/11177590.htm).

[Staff]

School Lockdowns Concern Parents, Students

POSTED: 12:25 pm EST March 18, 2005
UPDATED: 6:20 pm EST March 18, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Some parents are just finding out two schools were on lockdown as police searched for a man who robbed two construction workers Friday morning. http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0318/4298400_200X150.jpgWSOC-TV

Amay James Pre-K Center and Reid Park Elementary in southwest Charlotte were both locked down.Police said the culprit robbed two men working on a house under construction less than a mile away.
Parent Rose Marie Patton was stunned to see police when she tried to drop off her kids."He picked a fine place to run, didn't he?" she said.Patton said no parent ever wants to hear their child's school is on lockdown."That's so nerve-wracking. You're like, 'I want to get to my child. I want to go home,' and you can't get to them," she said. Videohttp://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0318/4298359_120X90.jpg
(http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4298319/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/ibs_icon/video.gifVIDEO: Police Put Two Schools On Lockdown (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4298319/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif

Even so, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School officials said their lockdown procedures are necessary. Police often make the call to lock down a school after learning of an immediate threat to students.



Read More...
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4298319/detail.html

[Scoop]

Police in the Charlotte area are leading a campaign to educate young people about gangs.Have You Been A Victim Of Gang Crime?Have information for police? Contact Crime StoppersCMPD: Area crime statisticsIs The City Doing Enough To Prevent Gang Crime?

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12476uagq/*http%3A//www.wsoctv.com/news/4348928/detail.html?rss=char&psp=news

[Staff]

Study: Pollution Worse Inside School Buses Than Out

POSTED: 6:34 am EDT April 6, 2005
UPDATED: 1:15 pm EDT April 6, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC -- Children riding on school buses are breathing in more pollution than people standing out on the streets, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. They found that exhaust from the buses was leaking into the passenger cabin, and probably affecting the children. Older buses were the worst, they found. Exhaust "scrubbers" did little to help, perhaps because the exhaust is coming inside before it gets to the devices, the team at the University of California, Berkeley, found.
"In a single day, a child riding a school bus will breathe in anywhere from seven to 70 times more exhaust from that bus than a typical Los Angeles resident will inhale from all school bus emissions in the area," said Julian Marshall, a researcher who led the study. The report did not specify whether the problem was caused by damaged exhaust pipes or faulty design.

Read more...
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4351161/detail.html

[Staff]

Truancy center might curb misbehavior
4/6/2005 10:42 AM
By: Lisa Reyes, News 14 Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Previously, students who were suspended from school stayed home. Now, those same students will still be able to attend classes and keep up with their academic work.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools opened its first truancy center Wednesday. It is called Best Chance for Success, and it offers classes for students who receive short-term suspensions (fewer than 10 days) and those who are caught skipping school.

Teachers at the center will lead instruction in the core subject areas of the curriculum.



http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif http://www.news14charlotte.com/media/2005/4/6/images/0106-schools.jpg http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif Students who are suspended for fewer than 10 days will attend a new truancy center in west Charlotte. http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif School district officials say they expect the truancy center to curb misbehavior because a suspension will no longer mean several days at home without class. Students said they think it's a good idea because their peers who misbehave won't fall behind.



http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=90654

[Scoop]

The high school sophomore said he's missed about 50 days of school this year because of suspensions. Each time he returned to his Charlotte-Mecklenburg school, he'd get a pile of makeup work covering lessons he had missed.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=121e77hrt/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/11330863.htm

[Staff]

Student Hit By Car At Bus Stop; Parents Worry About Safety

POSTED: 2:57 pm EDT April 7, 2005
UPDATED: 6:56 pm EDT April 7, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Police said a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school bus was stopped and bus driver had the stop sign out when an oncoming car failed to stop -- hitting a Tuckasegee Elementary third-grader. It happened on Scott Futrell Drive between Ashley Road and Little Rock Road. http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0407/4357551_200X150.jpgWSOC-TV

The child was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries."Yes, it worries me. I try to avoid going out at that end. I use the opposite end of the park," said resident Annette Stroupe.
Stroupe is a long-time resident of the mobile home park located behind the bus stop. She said something like this doesn't surprise her."People do not do 35 mph down there -- 45 mph, a lot of them 55 mph. I do 35 mph all the time and people just ride my bumper," said Stroupe. "I wouldn't want my child's bus stop to be right there."

Read more...
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4357030/detail.html

[Staff]

Boy Sexually Assaulted In Library Bathroom

POSTED: 4:04 pm EDT April 8, 2005
UPDATED: 6:37 pm EDT April 8, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An 8-year-old boy said he was sexually assaulted in the bathroom of University City Regional Library last week. http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0408/4362179_200X150.jpgWSOC-TV
The police report is vague, concealing the identity of the victim, who is only 8 years old.Investigators said a man he didn't know, who was already in the bathroom, forcibly fondled him.
John McDonald's children visit the library."It's shocking. We have five kids and we bring the kids here all the time. You'd never suspect a library," he said.Every person coming out of the library had the same reaction. They said they might worry about their children in other places, but not the library.Police are investigating the sexual assault. They not only want to know who did it, but what the library is doing to keep it from happening again.
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif"If kids are out there -- of course -- there should be some security or the workers should be more aware," said library visitor Tina Whitmore.Library administrators say there are no plans to add paid security guards at the University branch, but security staff is alerting library workers at every branch."They immediately turn around and send a memo about the incident and a description of the alleged person to all staff members," said Rita Rouse of Mecklenburg County Library.The library said it's not planning on posting any warnings about what happened.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4361687/detail.html

[Staff]

Gun Found At Middle School In Charlotte

POSTED: 12:15 a.m. EDT April 7, 2005
Charlotte, NC -- On Wednesday evening, parents were notified that a gun was found at Martin Middle School.

The principal sent a letter home with students explaining what happened.


Another student say the gun in the child's bookbag, and notified the teacher.

The suspect was arrested.

The gun was not loaded.


http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4354777/detail.html

[Staff]

Grier Heights offers kids summer options
4/8/2005 6:54 PM
By: News 14 Carolina
http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif
http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Community leaders are trying to reduce crime in their neighborhoods by giving kids more to do this summer.

The "Grier Heights out of School Time Action Group" held a summer information fair Friday. There were lots of activities for the kids while parents learned all about the opportunities available, from weekday camps to sports programs and even teen internships.



http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif http://www.news14charlotte.com/media/2005/4/8/images/0108-grier.jpg http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif The "Grier Heights out of School Time Action Group" held a summer information fair Friday. http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif The action group says that getting kids involved in structured activities during the summer has decreased crime in Grier Heights by as much as 15 percent in a given year. "Were just trying to again provide positive outlooks for youth and give them good things to do over the summer and reduce that crime rate,” said Ellis Fields, assistant director of the Mental Health Association of Central Carolina.

On Thursday night, dozens marched in Grier Heights in an effort to show their concern about crime in the neighborhood. That march was organized by ACORN, a national group made up of low and moderate-income families.

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/headlines/?ArID=90915&SecID=41

[Scoop]

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg teacher is suspended for an alleged physical confrontation with a Harding University High School student.Video Inside StoryWSOC-TV's Education Section

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=124mpf1aq/*http%3A//www.wsoctv.com/news/4376868/detail.html?rss=char&psp=news

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Police say gang activity in North Carolina is sometimes linked to other dangerous crimes, including murder. The number of gangs is on the rise, making it difficult for some to keep up with new trends on how to identify members.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12lrdjao2/*http%3A//www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/mecklenburg/?ArID=91430&SecID=3

[Scoop]

A Vance High School ROTC student returns a rifle to school as requested. CMPD locks down four schools.Charotte-Mecklenburg SchoolsCMS: Vance High SchoolWSOC-TV's Education Section

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4389021/detail.html?rss=char&psp=news
(http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=124g36k9m/*http%3A//www.wsoctv.com/news/4389021/detail.html?rss=char&psp=news)

[Scoop]

One gun was real and the other was fake, but both caused concerns at several Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools Monday. Authorities locked down four University City-area schools in the morning after a 911 report that a Vance High student was seen carrying a rifle on a Charlotte Area Transit System bus.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=121ssr2l9/*http%3A//www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/11429636.htm

[Scoop]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A practice drill was held Thursday in Charlotte to make sure school children will be safe in a real emergency.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/charlotte+mecklenburg+schools/SIG=12lr9fmjg/*http%3A//www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/mecklenburg/?ArID=91940&SecID=3

[Staff]

Police search for suspects in shooting 08:48 AM EDT on Saturday, April 23, 2005

6NEWS

Police were looking Saturday for the men behind a shooting on a Charlotte highway.

Police said a high school student from E.E. Waddell High School was followed by gang members after school one day.

The student said that they exchanged looks, and seconds later he was being followed.

He said he was on Interstate 77 Friday when bullets started to fly.

The victim was shot, but managed to get himself to Uptown and get help.

He was taken to the hospital, and he is expected to be OK.


http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/042305cckkWCNCshooting.2068bb42b.html

[Staff]

CMPD Teaching Students About Stranger Danger

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are teaching children about the dangers of talking to strangers and they are taking that message into local schools.Police Sgt. Roseanne De Tomasso had no trouble convincing the eighth-graders at The Glenn Center how important it is to be defensive."You've got to do something because if they get you in that car, there's a very good chance we're never going to see you again," said De Tomasso.
Safety was the message that a team of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers brought to the magnet school at the Old Concord High.CMPD Sgt. Vicky Suarez teaches students the first safety lesson. It begins with children realizing how easily they can become someone's prey.She shows students a video that comes from a Family Focus special Eyewitness News produced with the help of police officers who posed as predators and got children to go with them willingly.The images from the TV special were eye opening to adults and kids alike.

Read more...
http://www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/4404242/detail.html

[Staff]

BB gun found on CMS elementary bus

SCHOOLS- Charlotte Observer

Authorities found a BB gun on a Charlotte-Mecklenburg elementary school bus Monday afternoon. The bus was taking students home from Paw Creek Elementary along the county's northwestern edge when a student told the bus driver another child had a gun, said Jerri Haigler, schools spokeswoman.The bus driver returned to the school, where school officials and police searched the bus and found the BB gun, she said. A letter will be sent home today to parents of bus riders. -- KYTJA WEIR


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/11489612.htm

Third graders found with BB gun
4/26/2005 3:22 PM
By: News 14 Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Police are questioning two Paw Creek Elementary School students after a BB gun was discovered on their school bus Monday.

A representative at the school said the two third graders were headed home on the bus when someone told the driver about the gun. The driver immediately turned around and drove back to school.

A school resource officer determined the weapon was a BB gun and that it was not loaded.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school officials are now trying to figure out which student brought the gun to school.

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=92217

[Staff]

Local students learn about steroids
4/27/2005 5:45 PM
By: Annette Newell, News 14 Carolina
Steroids in Sports
http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif
Students said the controversy has changed the way they perceive some of their heroes.
http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif

http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif
http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif http://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news14charlotte.com/images/750.gif CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Vince Walden asked some seventh-graders some tough questions Wednesday at Ranson Middle School.

He wanted to make sure the students realized how dangerous steroids are and how the illegal drugs can damage the athletes who use them.

“You have a child that may be influenced or may have a liking for that sport or even have aspirations to play professionally,” said Walden, a substance abuse prevention specialist. “And when they see an athlete take those steps to try to achieve those goals, I think it sends a mixed message to the kids that you can kind of cut corners to achieve in life.”


Read more...
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?AC=&ArID=92307&SecID=2

[Staff]

UPDATED: 6:42 pm EDT April 28, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Former teacher's assistant 31-year-old Eric Johnson made his first appearance in court Thursday morning after being accused of engaging in sexual relations with a 16-year-old student with learning disabilities. http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0428/4428051_200X150.jpgWSOC-TV
Johnson enters into the courthouse to face sexual assault charges.More Details (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4427699/detail.html)

Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System fired Johnson from James Martin Middle School on March 24.Parents like Roxann Johnson said the word "disgusting" doesn't begin to describe her feelings toward these charges.
"It's appalling. It really is. I feel sorry for the parents of the daughter," she said.According to the police, Johnson had sexual contact with the student at the middle school on at least two occasions.Jackie Sturdivant said it's frustrating to know that some educator could take advantage of children. Videohttp://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0428/4428050_120X90.jpg
(http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4427699/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/ibs_icon/video.gifVIDEO: Former CMS Teacher Assistant Appears In Court On Sexual Assault Charges (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4427699/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif

"I just think it's a disgrace. It's shocking, and a teacher should know better then to mess around with a student," she said.CMS did a background check on Johnson, and they said except for a few traffic tickets, his record was clean.Sturdivant said it's scary for parents, but she believes the schools are doing what they can."I think the schools are probably doing all they can do. If they don't have any criminal background, they're going to hire them. But you don't know what teacher are going to do once they get into a classroom," she said.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4427699/detail.html

[Staff]

Coach accused of sex crime said he's innocent http://www.wcnc.com/bi/images/video_icon.gif 09:28 PM EDT on Thursday, April 28, 2005

By TIFFANI HELBERG / 6NEWS

Former teacher's aid and football coach, Eric Johnson, said he's innocent of a sex crime a student accused him of.

Eric Johnson spent seven years on the football field as the assistant coach at James Martin Middle School. He was also a teacher’s aide. You will not find him there anymore. He said he is wrongly accused of an unthinkable crime.

In March, Johnson was fired by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. A 16-year-old student said Johnson had sex with her. Johnson denied the charges and says when he refused to resign from his job, CMS fired him.

“It hurts me because I love working with kids,” Johnson said.

Awards and appreciation plaques proudly adorn Eric Johnson’s walls. But now they serve as a reminder of a job he can’t return to.

Police charged Johnson with feloniously taking indecent liberties with a 16-year-old female student at James Martin Middle School.

“She said she had sexually intercourse with me, and my thing is I know that’s not true,” Johnson said.

“They wanted me to resign and I felt like if I resigned I was saying I was guilty,” Johnson said.

Also online (http://www.wcnc.com/topstories/vitindex.html) Watch this story (http://www.wcnc.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wcnc.com/0428-teacheraccused.wmv)http://www.wcnc.com/bi/images/video_icon.gif

The news was a shock to parents picking up their children from James Martin Middle School Thursday.

“Oh that’s terrible. I think that’s horrible. I think that anybody who abuses a child right away not just fired, he needs to be put away if it comes out that he really did,” said parent Karen Danza.

“That’s really tough. It surprised me. Being a parent; forget it, I would be hurt,” said Rosa Pacheco.

Some parents tell 6NEWS they are upset because they said the school failed to notify them about this case.

After his arrest Johnson posted the $10,000 bond and was released from jail.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/WCNC-0428-AD-teacheraccused.22278e841.html

[Staff]

Police arrest two in I-77 shooting 11:36 PM EDT on Saturday, April 30, 2005

By DIANA RUGG / 6NEWS

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police made two arrests Saturday in an alleged gang-related shooting on Interstate 77 that left a Charlotte teenager injured. Another three gang members police believe were involved remained on the loose Saturday night.

According to police, men in a black Honda shot at Jairon Ochoa-Herrerra in the southbound lanes of the highway, near the Arrowwood Road exit.

The Ochoa-Herrera had parked his green Isuzu Rodeo in the parking lot at E.E. Waddell High School, when a black Honda sedan drove by, officers said. The two drivers left in opposite directions, but the Honda soon began to follow the teenager down Nations Ford Road.

As the drivers hit Tyvola and then southbound 77, heavy traffic kept them close, police said. The driver and four passengers in the Honda yelled at Ochoa-Herrera. He did not respond. The men in the Honda then began shooting at the Rodeo.

Firing five shots, the men hit Ochoa-Herrera three times, wounding him in the left wrist, the left elbow and the right hip. The bullets missed the three girls sitting in the SUV's back seat.

Ochoa-Herrera drove into Uptown, where he was found at Church and 7th streets. He was transported to Carolinas Medical Center.

Three of the bullet holes in the SUV are big and two are small. Ochoa-Herrera's father believes this means two people with different guns fired the shots.

Investigators arrested 17-year-old Juan Carlos Andres around 6 p.m. Friday and charged him with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon and other gun charges. Two handguns were confiscated and the car used in the offense was located, police said.

Of the five people in the suspect's car, police believe three gangs were represented.

An additional suspect was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with charges pending related to the shooting.

Ochoa-Herrera’s father told 6NEWS his son is not in a gang and has gone to stay with relatives. Police are looking into a possible gang connection to a girl who was in the car with Ochoa-Herrera when he was shot, his father said.

Police expect to announce charges against a second suspect Monday, after meeting with a district attorney.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/043005ccjrwcnci77shooting.22d4c267a.html

Police say shootings could be connected to gang 09:38 AM EDT on Saturday, May 7, 2005

6NEWS

Police are connecting two recent shootings to a new gang in town.

They think the Malditos Gang is behind a shooting that started at Wadell High School and ended on Interstate 77. Police also believe the gang may be responsible for a shooting at a Monroe police officer’s home.

Last week, five to six shots were fired into his home while the officer was asleep with his family.

Officers arrested eight suspects in that shooting on Thursday - one suspect had been busted before.

Experts say the Malditos are a part of a family of Hispanic gangs that reach across the country.


http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/050705cckkWCNCshootings.24ed33d2b.html

[Staff]

Loaded Gun Found At Middle School In Charlotte

POSTED: 12:11 a.m. EDT May 4, 2005
Charlotte, NC -- A father in Charlotte could soon face charges, after his 14-year-old son took a loaded handgun to school.

On Tuesday parents of students at Albemarle Road Middle School got letters from administrators explaining what happened Monday.


Police say a call to the Crime Stoppers Hotline led a school resource officer to the student.

They gun was in the boy's gym bag.

They say he got it from his father.

The department of Youth and Family Services is now investigating the case.

Police say the gun did not have a gunlock.


http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4446841/detail.html

[Staff]

Posted on Thu, May. 05, 2005 - Observer
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Mysterious illness strikes Matthews students

http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
KAREN GARLOCH
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Staff Writer
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif

A higher-than-normal number of students, about 160, called in or went home sick Wednesday from Matthews Elementary School, prompting an investigation by Mecklenburg County communicable disease control nurses and environmental health staffers.

But even after many interviews with parents, health officials still did not know Thursday what was making the students ill.

They are trying to eliminate possible causes, such as cafeteria food, water or other environmental substances. "We may know later today, but it probably will be tomorrow," health department spokesman Andy Fair said Thursday.

One hundred and twenty one children were out sick Wednesday morning and another 39 later went home sick, Fair said. That was two or three times more than normal for the Matthews school. On Thursday, attendance was back up again, Fair said.

No children were hospitalized as a result of their illnesses. Some visited their pediatricians or family doctors, Fair said.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/health/11571810.htm

Health department responds to reports of sick kids at school 01:11 PM EDT on Thursday, May 5, 2005

WCNC.com Staff

The Mecklenburg County Health Department got reports Thursday of a higher then normal amount of absences at Matthews Elementary School.

Communicable Disease Control nurses and environmental health staff contacted parents of Matthews Elementary School students to try and find out what caused so many students to get sick.

“We are currently working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and other partners, to determine what is making these students sick,” said Mecklenburg County Health Director Wynn Mabry. “As we complete our investigation, we will update the public on our findings.”

Students complained of abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and, in some cases, fever and diarrhea. Parents of students at the school are encouraged to call Communicable Disease Control at 704-336-3477 to report the symptoms and receive more information.

The health department said that it is trying to identify the cause of the incident and want to assure residents that they are safe.
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-050505-jmn-Health_department.2453502b2.html

Health Experts Blame Norovirus For Sick Students

POSTED: 1:16 pm EDT May 6, 2005
UPDATED: 1:46 pm EDT May 6, 2005
MATTHEWS, N.C. -- The Mecklenburg County Health Department said it believes the norovirus was the cause of hundreds of kids to become sick at Matthews Elementary School.The virus causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and mild fever.Health workers said it's a short-lived illness with no long-term health effects.
More than 120 students either called in or went home sick for the second day in a row on Thursday at Matthews Elementary School."We're seeing some students at other schools with similar types of symptoms, but not in the numbers of this particular school," said Mecklenburg County Health Department's Dr. Wynn Mabry.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4459552/detail.html

[Staff]

Bringing a gun to a CMS school?

Make sure you keep your pants on

It is the sort of news that stops you cold in your tracks. On March 9, Bobby Gene Smith, a 17- year-old student at West Mecklenburg High School, was arrested amd charged with bringing a sawed-off shotgun and the shells to fit it,onto the school's Tuckaseegee Road campus. Authorities caught Smith in the midst of two other less-troubling violations of school rules: he was skipping class and smoking behind the school gym. Smith allegedly fled from the security officers. The gun and ammunition were found in his bookbag after he was caught.

http://www.dumpcms.com/showpost.php?p=3154&postcount=44

[Staff]

Posted on Mon, May. 09, 2005
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Teacher charged with misdemeanor assault

http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
ANDRE DYKES
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
WCNC.com
http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif

Monday police charged a teacher at Harding University High School with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and the police had been investigating an incident between the teacher and the student since April 13.

A police report states Oneaka Dail, 32, assaulted a female student with a stapler. After the confrontation CMS suspended Dail with pay. Her status with CMS Monday is unknown.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/WCNC-0509-AD-Teacher_charged.25a1a3d9a.html

[Staff]

Elementary School Locked Down During Police Search

POSTED: 11:45 am EDT May 10, 2005
UPDATED: 12:04 pm EDT May 10, 2005
MATTHEWS, N.C. -- An elementary school in Matthews was on lockdown Tuesday morning while police combed the area for a pair of suspected car thieves.Investigators say that a car was stolen and dropped off near the school, while the suspects fled into nearby woods.Matthews police told authorities at Crown Point Elementary School, located on Sam Newell Road, to lock down the school while they conducted a hunt for the suspects.
Police arrested a man and woman in the case.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4471369/detail.html

[Staff]

Teacher Accused Of Assaulting A Student

POSTED: 4:56 pm EDT May 11, 2005
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EDT May 11, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A teacher from Quail Hollow Middle School in south Charlotte is accused of assaulting a student. http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0511/4478422_200X150.jpg Parent Deannah Baker thinks teachers should not retrain students at all.

The boy's mother said the teacher fractured her son's elbow. The school district said the teacher received special training to know how to restrain students.Carolyn Hudson has a child at Quail Hollow Middle School.
"I try to have trust in the staff there. I don't know the circumstances, but I would like to think they were doing the best that they could and that an accident occurred," she said.Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District isn't saying much about what happened to the 12-year-old boy.A spokesperson said the teacher has been suspended with pay while the incident is being investigated, and that he has been trained to be able to restrain someone.
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
The district and police also say the child is considered a special needs student.Parent Angela Grant finds the situation unsettling."It's sort of disturbing because you don't know all the circumstances and with that child being a special needs child, again it's hard to judge because you weren't there," she said.Other parents, like Deannah Baker think teachers should not retrain students at all."I think that's wrong. I believe in punishing children for a circumstance, but I don't think schools should be able to do that," she said.

Video available
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4478046/detail.html


Teaching assistant suspended after allegedly breaking student's arm 11:27 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 11, 2005

By TONY BURBECK / 6NEWS

An assistant teacher was suspended from Wednesday after allegedly breaking a 12-year-old student's arm.

According to student Justin Collins, he was removed from class by a teaching assistant after he got into an argument with another student in a behavioral emotional development class at Quail Hollow Middle School.

"He kept shoving me in my back," Collins said. Collins told the teaching assistant that he would hit him if he didn't stop shoving, he said.

The man pulled Collins' arm out, twisted it behind his back, pushed him to the floor and placed his knee in the student's elbow, Collins said. The force broke the student's arm.

"He could have restrained me, but he didn't have to break my elbow," Collins said.

The police report described the incident as an aggravated assault with serious injury. The teaching assistant was not arrested.

CMS suspended the teaching assistant with pay, pending an investigation.

The assistant called Collins later Wednesday evening, apologized and wanted to make sure the boy went to the hospital, Collins' mother said. She said teachers have restrained her son once or twice before. She doesn't think the injury was intentional.

She said her son crossed the line when he threatened the teaching assistant, and the teaching assistant crossed the line when he used force on a 12-year-old.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/051105ccjrwcncbrokenarm.266630e9c.html

[Staff]

Current law allows sex offenders to enter schools 07:01 PM EDT on Thursday, May 12, 2005

By TIFFANI HELBERG / 6NEWS
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/D_IMAGE.101688cd0b5.93.88.fa.7c.26a85ab90.jpgPolic e said it might have been legal for convicted sex offender Bruce Strickland to enter a elementary school.

CHERRYVILLE -- A teacher at Cherryville Elementary School spotted a sex offender on her campus. Tonight Bruce Strickland is in the Gaston county jail on a $1.5 million bond.

Strickland is charged with failing to register as a sex offender. His visit to Cherryville Elementary School still has parents talking. And Thursday the school sent home a letter to parents to explain what happened.

Some Cherryville Elementary School parents were stunned to learn a convicted sex offender was at their school about a month ago.

Grandfather Dewey Fitch said, “It is very concerning.” Another parent, Tammy Hamey said, “It makes me real mad.”

Gaston County Sheriff’s Office said Bruce Strickland went to Cherryville Elementary with a friend who was registering a child for kindergarten.

That is when a teacher recognized him. A couple weeks later that same teacher heard the news that Strickland was arrested for a robbery. She researched him online and found that he is a sex offender.

Deputy David Pearson with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Department said, “I think she did the right thing.”
Also online (http://www.wcnc.com/topstories/vitindex.html) Watch this story (http://www.wcnc.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wcnc.com/0512-cherryvillesex.wmv)http://www.wcnc.com/bi/images/video_icon.gif

Build your own newscast (http://www.wcnc.com/video/playlist.html)http://www.wcnc.com/bi/images/video_icon.gif
Pearson did his own investigation into Strickland and discovered he was convicted in Lincoln County of taking indecent liberties with a minor and later moved to Florida.

“He is a convicted sex offender and you take that as a definite threat,” Pearson said.

Florida classified Strickland as a sexual predator and last year he moved back to Cherryville. Pearson said Strickland didn’t notify either state that he was a sex offender.

But one thing surprised parents even more. Deputy Pearson said it might have been perfectly legal for Strickland to go into a school.

Deputy Pearson told 6NEWS in order for it to be illegal for a sex offender to be at a school he has to fall into three categories:

He has to be labeled as a predator, on probation or a judge must set it as a condition of an offender’s conviction.

Police said they are not sure if Strickland fits into any of those categories.

Parent Joe Hay said, “Somebody should revise the law.”

Cherryville Elementary School Principle Beverly Putnam agreed.

“Well we certainly want anything done that will improve the safety of our schools. That is the bottom line for us. Making sure are children are safe everyday,” Putnam said.

Authorities just learned about Strickland’s offender status Wednesday, but he's been in jail for weeks prior to this on a robbery charge.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/WCNC-0512-AD-Cherrville_offender.26a75c009.html

[Staff]

Posted on Wed, Dec. 10, 2003 R E L A T E D C O N T E N T http://www.thatsracin.com/images/charlotte/charlotte/2508/6290424152.gif

CMS has seized 12 guns in 4 months

http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Total equals all of last school year
http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif
ANN DOSS HELMS, CARRIE LEVINE & MELISSA MANWARE
http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif

Charlotte-Mecklenburg officials have confiscated 12 guns in schools since August, including one in an elementary, matching the total for the full 2002-03 year.

At a news conference Tuesday called to address a gunshot at Marie G. Davis Middle School a day earlier, Superintendent James Pughsley stressed that schools are safe even as reports surfaced of a .22-caliber handgun and bullets confiscated from a student at E.E. Waddell High late Friday.

CMS officials had not told parents about the Waddell incident and Pughsley did not bring it up at the conference. He said later that he was aware of it, but "Waddell was not on my mind at that time. Had I been fully aware I would have mentioned it."

Pughsley said he will step up random metal-detector searches at middle schools and hire an unspecified number of security guards after the Christmas break.

He offered few details of this year's gun incidents, referring to three students with guns on campus and "hard evidence" that CMS has been successful in reducing guns at schools. When asked how many guns had been found this school year, Pughsley said he did not know.

When The Observer asked for a tally afterward, spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry checked reports and said there have been 12 separate incidents.

Henry said Waddell parents were not notified because the gun was found late in the day on Friday, and few students were aware of it. Waddell teachers were notified via e-mail, according to the head of a teachers' group.


Excerpt...
School board member Molly Griffin said the rash of reports should prompt the board to seek advice from experts on gun control in schools. "We have to balance the need to protect our students with a reasonable approach so our schools don't feel like prisons, but at the same time, we need to re-evaluate whether what we're doing now is enough," she said.

William Lassiter, a school safety specialist with the state Center for the Prevention of School Violence, said school systems must consider whether guns are a symptom of a bigger problem.

"Most kids say they bring a gun to protect themselves, so normally, it means there's a root problem that needs to be dealt with so the child feels safe in the environment and does not need to bring guns in the first place," he said.


Excerpt...
The heads of two teachers' groups yesterday offered dueling perspectives on whether teachers are getting enough information.

"No one has said to me that they're uncomfortable so I think it's safe to say that they are comfortable with how it's being handled," said Dot Cromwell, a Waddell teacher who is president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.

But Judy Kidd, head of the Classroom Teachers Association, a group that represents the district's teachers, said she frequently hears complaints from staff about being kept out of the loop. "They're not fully informed what's going on in their own building," she said.

Monday's incident at Marie G. Davis, in which a teacher apparently did not realize that a gun had gone off in a student's pocket as students were preparing to change classes, surfaced publicly in a police report. Students also took home letters.

Read more...
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/charlotte/living/education/7455807.htm

Posted on Thu, Dec. 11, 2003
R E L A T E D C O N T E N T http://www.thatsracin.com/images/charlotte/charlotte/2508/6290424152.gif


CMS now says 9 guns found this year

http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif
District revises count of 12, promises letters for each new incident
http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif
ANN DOSS HELMS AND CARRIE LEVINE
http://www.thatsracin.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Staff Writers
Excerpt...
Libby Palmer, a South Mecklenburg parent who said she was shocked to read in Wednesday's Observer that CMS reported that three guns have been found at her child's school, said she considers the parent letters a step in the right direction. But she said the district should ensure the information and statistics it releases are clear and accurate the first time.

Wednesday's news release said someone who was not a student was caught by security cameras on the South Mecklenburg grounds "with an alleged gun in his possession." It also said two students were arrested off campus "for an alleged robbery attempt" and that, to date, no guns have been confiscated on campus.

"We want to know if there's a problem; please tell us," Palmer said. "If there's not, don't say there is. If they're going to give information, make sure it's the right information."

Guns in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have been in the news since mid-November, when a Vance High student was arrested with a loaded gun. The next day a gun went off in an East Mecklenburg High student's pocket, ricocheting and grazing two students.

On Monday, a gun went off in a seventh-grader's pocket at Marie G. Davis Middle School. No one was hurt.

Pughsley held a news conference Tuesday to talk about safety in the wake of those incidents. He said he will step up random metal-detector searches at middle schools and hire more security guards after winter break.

Pughsley did not discuss other gun incidents -- including one at Waddell High on Friday, in which a student was caught with a gun and bullets. Waddell parents were not notified.

Pughsley also said he did not know how many guns had been found this school year.

When the Observer requested that number after the conference, spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry checked reports and said 12 guns had been found -- the same number CMS reported for the entire 2002-03 school year. At the Observer's request, she double-checked to make sure that number represented separate gun incidents, and was told it did.


Excerpt...
We will have to do whatever it takes to make people feel safe," said new board member Joe White, who was elected chairperson Tuesday. "I'm not willing to hop out there and make hasty decisions."

New board member Kit Cramer said the district must search the country for ways to make campuses safer and review the way parents are notified of gun incidents.

Kenneth Trump, a school security consultant based in Cleveland, said school violence is increasing nationally this fall.

Random metal-detector scans are effective, he said, but parent and student education is just as important.

Board members disagreed about whether Pughsley should have been better prepared to talk about gun trends.

"Having one gun on campus a year is too many," said George Dunlap, a school police officer. "I don't know that the numbers question is even important."

Read more...
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/charlotte/living/education/7464488.htm


Bold and Underline added by staff

[Staff]

5-year-old hit by school bus 04:30 PM EDT on Monday, May 16, 2005

By GLENN COUNTS / 6NEWS

An elementary school student was not seriously injured when his school bus backed into him Monday afternoon.

The accident happened around 2:20 p.m. at 10510 Salamander Ct. in northeast Charlotte.

According to officials at the scene, the boy was kneeling down behind the bus when the driver backed into him. The boy was hit in the head with the bumper of the bus.

Medic evaluated the boy on scene and they did not transport. The boy’s mother said she would talk her son to their family doctor.

The boy is a student at J. H. Gunn Elementary School.


http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-061605-al-kid_hit.27ea5d586.html

[Staff]

Gun Found In Bookbag At School

POSTED: 11:33 p.m. EDT May 20, 2005
Charlotte, NC -- Police arrested a student who took a gun Friday to his middle school in west Charlotte.

A school resource officer at Spaugh Middle School found an unloaded gun in a bookbag.


The school says it punished the student and sent letters home to parents.


http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4515154/detail.html

[Staff]

Security measures in place; Waddell principal reacts to threat warning 05:44 PM EDT on Tuesday, May 24, 2005

By TIFFANI HELBERG / 6NEWS

The principal of E.E. Waddell High School sent a letter home to parents Tuesday. It explains new security measures taken in response to threats of violence at the school.

The last couple weeks of school will be somewhat unusual for students at E.E. Waddell. “We are going to be on semi-lock down,” said junior Diana Gonzalez. “Yeah they lock the doors. They don’t let nobody in. If somebody knocks.. a teacher has to open the door just in case it is somebody who should not be there,” said sophomore Wendi Campos.

Students said they have to be escorted by security if they need to leave during classes. The letter the school sent home calls the lockdown “limited movement.” It said the measures are “a response to rumors about students being involved in fights.”

“It was not very informative so I decided to come by,” said parent Antonio Massey. Massey is the father of two students at E.E. Waddell. “Concern, that is why I am here. I am very concerned as a parent,” Massey said.

The students 6NEWS talked to told a different story from the letter. They said teachers had another explanation for the precaution.

“They said that they are suspicious that someone will bring a weapon or something is going to happen to our school. The last time we had semi-lockdown a student got shot,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez was referring to a shooting incident involving Waddell student Herron Ochoa Herrera. Police said he was shot on the highway after leaving school about a month ago.

“I think it’s dangerous,” Campos said. Campos said she does not feel safe at school, regardless of security measures.

“How is that lockdown going to do anything? What if somebody has a gun in the classroom? What is that going to do? Nothing,” Campos said.

Read more...
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/WCNC-0524-ad-Waddell_letter.2a7f1e6ab.html

[Staff]

Former principal claims to have proof of gang assault 05:53 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 25, 2005

By MARK BOONE / 6NEWS

Michael Faulkner resigned as principal of E.E. Waddell High School after claiming he was beaten by three men in November of 2003. Police said Faulkner lied to officers investigating the claims.

Police said it is what they did not find at E.E. Waddell that landed the former principal in trouble. There were no signs of spray paint after Faulkner said he caught three men using the stuff to vandalize the school, police said. No sign of the three suspects either. The man who once ran this school claims he's the victim of a cover up and he said he has proof.

It's been 18 months since police were called to the baseball field at E.E. Waddell. The principal found lying on the ground, claiming he had been beaten by members of the MS 13 gang.

School administrators told reporters they found no evidence to support the principal's claims.

Faulkner resigned from the school, and in January the former principal was indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge, obstruction of justice.

“Not only do I feel frustrated, but I'm to the point of being angry,” Faulkner said Wednesday as he entered a Mecklenburg County courtroom.

He told a judge he is not guilty of the obstruction charge. Faulkner also said he has hired his own private investigator to prove he was attacked and the school district covered it up.

“There's a lot of evidence, overwhelming evidence to support me,” Faulkner said.

Faulkner won't say what that evidence is, but he claims both Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police tried to hide a growing gang problem in Charlotte schools.

An attorney for the former principal said Faulkner's case forced the school district into admitting gangs do exist at several schools including E.E. Waddell.

“If I were a parent I would not have a child in that school particularly. Until CMS can show that my children are safe, I would certainly not put children in those schools,” Faulkner said.

A CMS spokesperson told us the district won't comment on Faulkner's claims. CMPD did not return calls about the case Wednesday. Faulkner and his attorney said they will reveal what their own private investigator has found when the former principal's trial begins in September.


http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/WCNC-0425-AD-Faulkner.2ad485ee0.html

[Staff]

Student Under LockDown Status
Monday, May 23, 2005
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has initiated a lockdown of sorts at E.E. Waddell High School in Charlotte. This means no students will be allowed in the hall without an escort.

Teachers have also been asked to pay attention to all student conversations, gatherings and movements.

The principal sent a letter to teachers over the weekend. He is concerned about a high number of knives in which some students may bring to school. He emailed the staff Sunday afternoon.

He pointed out that a fight could happen the last few days of school and gangs could be responsible for the disturbances.

http://wbtv.com/news/index.cfm?startrow=21&page=5

[Staff]

School bus accident in east Charlotte http://www.wcnc.com/images/photo_icon2.gif 09:54 AM EDT on Friday, May 27, 2005
By JOSHUA NYPAVER / WCNC.com Staff

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/M_IMAGE.101688cd0b5.93.88.fa.7c.2b5abf803.jpg 6NEWS

A motorcycle slid under a school bus Friday morning injuring the motorcylist.
The accident happened at the intersection of Margaret Wallace Road and Summerfield Ridge Lane around 7 a.m. None of the kids on the CMS bus 1259 were hurt.

According to Medic, the motorcycle driver was taken to Carolinas Medical Center. Police think the man lost control of the bike and his body hit the bus.

Also online (http://www.wcnc.com/topstories/vitindex.html) 8 Photo slideshow http://www.wcnc.com/images/photo_icon2.gif (http://javascript%3Cimg%20src=%22http://dumpcms.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20titl e=%22Stick%20Out%20Tongue%22%20smilieid=%225%22%20 class=%22inlineimg%22%20/%3EopUpSlideshow%28%27/news/slideshows/052705-bus_ax/manual/01.htm%27%29)

Two overnight school break-ins According to police two schools were broken into overnight Thursday.

The first incident happened at Providence High right before 2 a.m. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to an alarm there. Police said the suspects entered the school and sprayed glue on the floor of a commons area and committed other small acts of vandalism. Police said that nothing appeared to have been stolen.

The second school break in happened at Lincoln Heights Elementary just after 2:20 a.m. Police said an alarm call brought them out there after a brick was thrown through a window to gain entry. They said some computer electronic equipment was taken.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-052705-jmn-bus_ax.2b5873d42.html

[Staff]

School Bus Catches Fire In North Charlotte

POSTED: 10:06 am EDT June 1, 2005
UPDATED: 10:13 am EDT June 1, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Fire officials are investigating the cause of a school bus fire Wednesday morning. http://images.ibsys.com/char-structure/images/structures/buttons/button_enlarge.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0601/4554318_200X150.jpg (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4554264/detail.html#)WSOC-TV

Investigators said there was severe damage to the engine and front part of bus No. 692.According to the police, it caught fire on Old Concord Road at North Tryon Street just before 6 a.m.
Authorities said there were no children on the bus.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4554264/detail.html

[Staff]

Police Lockdown School While Searching For Suspect

POSTED: 12:28 pm EDT June 6, 2005
UPDATED: 4:20 pm EDT June 6, 2005
MATTHEWS, N.C. -- The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police helicopter was in the air over Matthews Monday morning as officers searched on the ground for a man accused of brutally attacking two women with a blunt object inside a Matthews' Applebees. Videohttp://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0606/4574020_120X90.jpg
(http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4573944/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/ibs_icon/video.gifVIDEO: Police Lockdown School While Searching For Robbery, Assault Suspect (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4573944/detail.html#) http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif
http://images.ibsys.com/sh/images/structures/misc/spacer.gif

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police helicopter was in the air over Matthews Monday morning as officers searched on the ground for a man accused of brutally attacking two women with a blunt object inside a Matthews' Applebees.The search area was all around Crestdale Middle School on Sam Newell Road.
Because the man was on the loose right near Crestdale, police put the school on lockdown."In case the suspect were to turn and go toward the school, that's so the doors are locked and we know the students are safe inside the school," said Gastonia police Sgt. David Harrington.Police surrounded the school -- checking all those coming and going.After a two-hour search, police caught the suspect in a rock quarry right across the street. It put an end to a tense morning for those at the school.Parent Kim Webster said she first learned of the lockdown by watching Eyewitness News.She said she is happy to see the lockdown policy works and police were able to keep the violent suspect away from the middle school."I wasn't too worried because I am confident in the police, and the procedures that they follow on a regular basis," said Webster.Suspect Kenneth Burden worked at the Applebee's. He was still wearing the company issued shirt when he was arrested.Matthews police officers questioned him for hours and then took him to jail.One of the victims is still in the hospital with severe injuries to her face.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/4573944/detail.html

[Staff]

Posted on Sat, Jul. 02, 2005 http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif
How many more must die?

http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif

Eleven-year-old Alexis Raven Perry shouldn't have died. But Tuesday she was hit by a car as she crossed Sharon Amity Road to get to a bus stop.

No, she shouldn't have crossed where she did, without a light. And no, the driver shouldn't have sped away. But that doesn't let city transportation officials off the hook, either.

You can walk long distances along major Charlotte streets with no light to get safely across. No wonder people dart out where they shouldn't. It's basic human nature: Pedestrians are unlikely to opt to walk several blocks to a traffic light, wait for green, then come all the way back.

The city shouldn't let Raven die in vain. It should re-examine its pedestrian and crosswalk policies. Some places to start:

• Lower speed limits. This should be a no-brainer, especially around schools and where homes are near retail areas. Consider:

The Federal Highway Administration reports that 95 percent of pedestrians are likely to survive being hit by a vehicle going 20 mph; only 15 percent are likely to survive if hit at 40 mph. Yet the Sharon Amity speed limit near Raven's home -- near apartments, stores, restaurants and a huge shopping mall -- is 45 mph. Mysteriously, on Sharon Amity south of Independence Boulevard, the limit drops to 35 mph.

• Add crossing lights. City officials say they fear crosswalks not at major intersections can project a false sense of safety and be dangerous. But isn't it worse not to have one? Consider:

Of 9,500-some pedestrians killed nationally in 2002-03, 40 percent were killed where no crosswalk was available; only 10 percent were killed in a crosswalk.

A recent national study of pedestrian safety ranked the Charlotte metro region the 13th most dangerous in the U.S. As Raven's death shows, that's not a ranking to be proud of.


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/12039640.htm