Schools go on near normal

Mike Sciacca

It was school business as usual on a bleak Tuesday, the morning of the

terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center.

Within the Huntington Beach Union High School District, Executive

Assistant Carole Thomas said all district administrators were on duty and

a crisis team was on hand to deal with any questions and concerns

students may have had.

“It’s as normal a school day as we possibly can have under the

circumstances, just with heightened security,” Thomas said.

Supt. Susan Roper issued a letter to all district staff.

Among many things, she said the “challenge for us all is to keep a

common sense approach. Our highest priority is to provide the business as

usual, comforting routines that provide emotional security for students.”

Roper’s main point, she said, was “simply for all of us to give

ourselves permission to set aside our normal tasks to provide time and

space for our students to discuss their fears during the week.”

As Tuesday morning began, still unknown knife-wielding terrorists

reportedly hijacked four commercial planes, crashing two into the

110-story twin towers in New York, a third into the Pentagon outside

Washington and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.Across the

Ocean View School District, flags were flying at half-mast.

Mike Luker, assistant supt. of human resources, was monitoring

communications at the district’s 15 schools.

“The name of the game is communication and we have a pretty good plan

of attack,” Luker said. “The first thing we did this morning, was release

a memo from Supt. James Tarwater’s office assuring all students and

teachers that we would operate in a calm atmosphere.”

Principals at all 15 district schools, Luker said, monitored their

campuses’ situations.

Luker added that absenteeism was near normal, although tardies were up

a bit due to students watching news coverage at home before arriving at

school.

“I have been in contact with all 15 schools throughout the day and I

can verify that all is calm within the district,” he concluded.

Like the other local school districts, Ocean View School District

operated Tuesday under near normal conditions, although heightened

awareness was everywhere, said Kathy Kessler, assistant superintendent of

personnel services.

Flags also flew at half-staff there.

“We’re pretty much going about it as a regular school day,” Kessler

said. “We’ve talked with all school principals and they, along with

teachers, are being responsive to students who might have questions about

the day’s tragedies. We also have a psychologist close by, just in case.”

At Huntington Beach High, Principal Frank Berry went over the public

address system to inform students of the morning’s happenings, and how it

would affect the school.

“Our ultimate concern is the safety of these students,” he explained.

“Parents and students alike need to know that Huntington Beach High is a

safe haven. We reviewed emergency procedures here on campus today, and as

being the leader here on campus, I went from classroom to classroom after

addressing the students, to see if anything was needed.”

Televisions were kept on in classrooms, he said, allowing the lines of

communication to be open between teachers and students.

“Our issue always is to inform our students,” he explained.