Pupils Return to Classroom Shooting Scene

Less than 24 hours after a woman walked into a fifth-grade classroom at Panorama Elementary School near Tustin and shot herself in the presence of 27 students, most of the children were back Tuesday. There were three absences, school officials said.

“We’re just interested in getting back to a state of normalcy,” said David P. Burgdorf, assistant superintendent of Orange Unified School District. “The outward signs indicate that we’re already there.”

Custodians and painters repainted and recarpeted the classroom Monday night.

Mary Jo Jensen, a 44-year-old Orange County woman, walked into Room 5 at 11:20 a.m. Monday and, despite attempts by teacher Paddy Kakihara and her students to dissuade her, fired a bullet into her head. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital an hour later.

Experienced Problems

Jensen lived within a quarter of a mile of the school. Her son said she had recently experienced both emotional and physical problems.

On Tuesday, an armed Orange County sheriff’s deputy was stationed at the small, quiet school. Its library had been turned into a temporary counseling center, where the superintendent of schools, school board president and a psychologist from the Orange Police Department met with parents and students before class.

Many of the children at Panorama Elementary School complained of nightmares and a sleepless night, their parents said Tuesday.

“My son slept 30 minutes last night,” said Mike Donnell, of Cowan Heights. “Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that lady’s face.”

Praises Teacher

Donnell said he was pleased with the way Kakihara had handled her class during the incident. The teacher had instructed the children to put their heads down on their desks so they would not see the shooting, then shielded Jensen’s body from their view.

He said he was appalled, though, that the children were returned to Room 5 so soon after the incident. “They can paint the walls as many times as they want. It’s still the same room,” he said.

School district officials said psychologists unanimously agreed that returning the children to the classroom was the best way to deal with their fears. The officials also said that no other classroom was available.