Beyond the Blackboard

School Scare -- UPDATED

Marco Forster Middle School and Del Obispo Elementary School went into lockdown this morning after a woman drove her car onto basketball courts behind Marco Forster. Initial reports indicate a baby was in the woman's car and that she might have had a knife. Campuswide lockdowns move all of the children into classrooms, where the doors are locked. Children were at P.E. when the woman, believed to be a parent of a child at the school, drove onto the blacktop, apparently by accessing a gate off the parking lot.

No children were injured.

Details are still sketchy, the Orange County Sheriff's Department blotter shows authorities were summoned to the campus at 9:42 a.m., and that a 35-year-old woman, identified as Patricia Rosalba Lagunas, was arrested.

UPDATE:

Authorities say no weapons were found. Here's an update from Marco Forster Principal Carrie Bertini that was sent to parents:

"I am writing to notify you that our school underwent a school wide lockdown today. At approximately 9:40 am a car drove up our access road and behind the school where PE classes were in session. The driver refused to respond to staff, was behaving strangely and refused to leave. Police were called and the school was put in lockdown. Police responded, situation was handled and the school went back to normal operations within 45 minutes.

I would like to commend your children and our staff for their quick response to this situation. This is a reminder of the importance of the drills we hold regularly to respond to emergency situations."

Carrie C. Bertini, Principal, Marco Forster Middle School

Editor's Note: The district announced Del Obispo was not locked down -- only Marco Forster.

Here's Text of the Speeches ...

Here's the text speeches of Kim McCarthy's concerns about Marco Forster Middle School and Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter's response.

McCarthy

Carter

They did stray from their prepared texts just a bit; the audio versions are in an earlier post.

CUSD is Famous? Infamous? Again!

Ken and John from KFI 640 took up the issue of whether a Mexican-American mural is appropriate on the wall of Marco Forster Middle School. Here's the link to the early post about that, complete with recordings of the speeches that touched it off. We'll post both text of both speeches here tomorrow, too.

Capistrano resident Kim McCarthy kicked this all off when she told trustees that Marco Forster Middle School is being run "as if it was a Mexican public school, not an American public school." She points out that students, staff and many Marco parents speak Spanish on campus ...

Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter later responded that a Mexican-American mural was painted by students, coming together after a hate crime on campus. He also points out that Marco's test scores have gone up nearly 100 points in recent years.

Immigration Debate Hits the Campus

The immigration issue has been boiling up here and there in town, with the city extending the lease with CHEC, a group that provides family services to mostly Latino communities. Kim McCarthy has been one of the outspoken critics that the city is ignoring the immigration issue. She took up her battle with the schools recently ... Superintendent Carter responded at the board meeting this week.

McCarthy complained about what she said is a Latino-themed mural, and attitude, at Marco Forster. Carter responded that it's something to be proud of, especially given its roots are a hate crime.

Here's the audio on both:

McCarthy's address to school officials:

Carter's response at the following meeting:

Just in Case Summer Gets Boring

The summer reading lists are up on Capo Unified's Web site ...

The book list for elementary students is here, and contains beginning-reader books, fiction, non-fiction, nature- and animal-books, sports and adventure books, and more. Here's an example from the list:

"Snarf Attack, Underfoodle and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All," by Mary Amato and Ethan Long: This hilarious story follows the antics of two brothers with overactive imaginations and a comfortable sibling relationship.

The list for secondary-level students can be found here. It's divided into middle-school fiction, middle school non-fiction, high-school fiction and high-school non-fiction. Here's an example of a middle-school fiction book (an animated film based on this book is coming to theatres in December):

"The Tale of Desperaux," by Kate Dicamillo: Desperaux Tilling, the new baby mouse, is different from all other mice. Sadly, the romantic Desperaux's actions ultimately cause him to be banished by his own father to the foul, rat-filled dungeon.