News 24/7

Five Fontana students arrested in random contraband search

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:15:33 -0800

A random search for contraband at Fontana High School on Friday resulted in five student arrests and 10 discipline cases, school officials said today.

More than 1,400 students passed through metal detectors and had their backpacks and purses searched at the Citrus Avenue campus before school started.

The arrested students were not named, but school police chief Robert Ratcliffe said one had a knife and the other four had drugs on them. Ten students are expected to be disciplined for bringing "tobacco products" onto campus, according to a Fontana school police news release.

Officials also seized nearly 100 marking pens that they say are often used to tag school property.

stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com

Congress to debate role of military recruiters in schools

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:00:55 -0800

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mary Adams doesn't want her daughter hearing pitches from military recruiters as she completes her high school education.

"They promise them all kinds of benefits without telling them of the risks," said Adams, a registered nurse whose daughter is a sophomore at a high school in Rochester, N.Y.

Thomas Gregory disagrees. Three years ago, he feared losing his son to the streets. But thanks to a meeting with a military recruiter, his son gained a career, an education and a brighter future.

"This is not a numbers game, as I've heard, and we're not creating killers. What we are creating is citizens for tomorrow," Gregory said during a February meeting of the Rochester Board of Education, which is considering whether to limit recruiters' access to contact information for high school students.

A similar debate is expected in the coming months in Congress.

When approving the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, lawmakers inserted language requiring high schools that receive federal money to meet certain requirements regarding military recruiting.

Upon the military's request, high schools must provide students' names, addresses and telephone numbers.

Supreme Court hears arguments over school strip search

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:30:36 -0800

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court seemed worried Tuesday about tying the hands of school officials looking for drugs and weapons on campus as they wrestled with the appropriateness of a strip-search of a 13-year-old girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen.

Savana Redding was 13 when Safford, Ariz., Middle School officials, on a tip from another student, ordered her to remove her clothes and shake out her underwear looking for pills. The district bans prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Her lawyer argued to the Supreme Court that such a "intrusive and traumatic" search would be
unconstitutional in every circumstance if school administrators were not directly told the contraband was in her underwear.

"A school needs to have location-specific information" to put a child through such an embarrassing search, lawyer Adam B. Wolf said.

10 years on, Columbine principal still on the job

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:30:21 -0800

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Columbine High School principal Frank DeAngelis speaks easily, almost matter-of-factly, about the personal price he paid after the massacre at his school: His marriage of 17 years collapsed, he suffered anxiety attacks and he still carries survivor's guilt.

But 10 years after students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and wounded 23 others, DeAngelis is still at his desk. He says he won't retire until after the students who were in kindergarten the year of the bloodshed have graduated in 2011.

"People ask, 'Why are you still here?'" he said.

"I can't imagine being anywhere else, especially after the tragedy."

Now 54, DeAngelis is a diminutive, energetic man who speaks quietly but emphatically. He's known around the school as "Mr. D," a name he embraces.

DeAngelis was in his office the morning of April 20, 1999, when his secretary told him someone was shooting. He ran to the hallway and gunshots whizzed by, shattering glass behind him.

He shepherded a group of about 20 students to safety that day, and he survived with no physical injuries. But he recites a list of other, invisible wounds: Anxiety attacks so severe they felt like heart attacks; guilt that he survived but that his good friend, teacher Dave Sanders, died; the end of his marriage.

DeAngelis blames his divorce on the difficulty he had communicating with his wife after the shootings. He was working long hours and didn't feel like talking when he got home.

"I needed those few hours just to rejuvenate so I could come back and start all over again, and so we grew apart," he said.

Fontana police officers cracking down on drunken drivers during prom season

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:53:24 -0800

As high school students prepare for the prom, Fontana police officers are preparing for the possibility of underage drinking and driving.

The department will conduct DUI saturation patrols every weekend until May 2 - during the high school prom season.

Extra officers will be on patrol to look for underage drinking and driving, which could increase as teenagers celebrate the night, according to a Fontana police news release.

The goal of the patrol is to reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic collisions and increase the number of DUI arrests, according to the news release.

The operation is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the news release.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Ontario chamber working to overcome financial woes

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:32 -0800

In the nine months since the Ontario Chamber of Commerce made cost-cutting measures that included eliminating the president/CEO position, little has been said from the board about its future plans.

The State of the Chamber on Wednesday was an opportunity to shed light on how the board intends to handle the reductions, said Cid Pinedo, chairman of the board of directors.

"We're not in the position to replace a president/CEO," he said. "As soon as we're able to, we'll replace that executive position."

In June, Mark Smiley, who led the Ontario chamber for three years, quietly left.

Soon afterward, the board announced the six-person staff had been reduced as a cost-cutting measure.

Local educators honored during SB Golden Apple awards

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:30:51 -0800

A dozen area educators were honored during the Golden Apple Awards in San Bernardino on Wednesday.

The awards, which were presented by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, recognized teachers, administrators and other staff who excel at their jobs.

The ceremony was emceed by San Bernardino Mayor Patrick J. Morris at the Hilton in San Bernardino.

Educators honored were Rose Garcia and Joy Hadnot, administrative secretaries, Leticia Hector, associate professor and speech department chairwoman and Carol Cook, associate professor of physiology, all from San Bernardino Valley College.

From Cal State University San Bernardino: Amy Braceros, PAWS coordinator and records employee, Kimberly Cousins, chemistry and biochemistry professor, Janet Kottke, psychology professor and Virginia Stewart, event analyst for Coussoulis Arena.

From the San Bernardino City Unified School District: Joann Tortarolo, director of alternative programs, Mohammad Islam, chief business and financial officer, William Beshears, teacher at Manuel A. Salinas Elementary School and Aimee Lombardo, special education secretary.

Truancy sweep counsels Rialto students, cites 11

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:45:14 -0800

Rialto school security and police conducted a truancy sweep on Thursday and cited 11 students for loitering.

The officers stopped about 50 children, and held those that they cited until their parents arrived.

San Bernardino City Unified Superintendent Delgado to run for county superintendent

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:05:46 -0800

San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Arturo Delgado is announcing his plans to seek the office of San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools at a press conference Wednesday at the Feldheym Library at 4:30.

deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com

Five San Bernardino County school districts recognized as model programs

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:00:18 -0800

Five school districts from San Bernardino County were among the eight selected statewide as model School Attendance Review Boards, according to a release Monday by Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of Public Instruction.

The five county districts recognized as model SARB programs are Colton Joint Unified, Hesperia Unified, San Bernardino City Unified, Victor Valley Union High School District and Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified.

"We are thrilled that each of these districts has been

recognized for the outstanding work they do not only for students, but the families in their communities," County Superintendent Gary Thomas said.

The model districts will be recognized at a ceremony on April 22 in South Lake Tahoe.

All five San Bernardino County districts are members of the countywide SARB program, said Sherman Garnett, coordinator of Child Welfare and Attendance for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and a member of the statewide SARB.

"These districts all take a collaborative approach to making sure students are getting to school," he said. "What makes their programs successful is that they incorporate the help of law enforcement, county probation, social services, public health and other public and private resources to assist families.

"The issues that School Accountability Review Boards have to deal with concern families, not just students. These model districts recognize that in the work they do."

This is the second year of the statewide recognition program. In the inaugural year in 2008, Redlands Unified was selected as a model program.

"Having six of our county programs out of 16 statewide recognized in the first two years shows the commitment districts are making to help students and their families in school attendance," Garnett said.

Read more at Education Now.

canan.tasci@inlandnewspapers.com

Riverside National Cemetery seeks volunteers for special Memorial Day project

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:29:58 -0800

Volunteers are being sought for a unique Memorial Day project put on by Riverside National Cemetery.

For a week leading up to the cemetery's annual Memorial Day ceremony, "The Roll Call Project" will honor every one of the 150,000-plus veterans buried there.

"It is our intention to honor each one by reciting their name during the week," cemetery director Gill Gallo said in a prepared statement.

More than 300 volunteers are needed to complete the project at the cemetery that has become the busiest in the nation.

Rialto school board hires superintendent

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:39:10 -0800

The Rialto Unified School district has a new superintendent.

In a 5-0 vote last week, the Board of Education hired interim Superintendent Harold Cebrun to take over the job from Edna Davis-Herring, who left the post on Dec. 31.

District officials said Cebrun's contract pays $192,000 with a $750 monthly car allowance from March 5 to June 30, 2010. He will receive 25 paid vacation days. He has offered five unpaid furlough days to the district.

Cebrun on Tuesday said he was excited about the job.

San Bernardino County DA forms anti-exploitation group

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:30:46 -0800

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos is on the CASE, and he's looking at it in a whole new way.

The CASE is the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation, and the goal is to take on child prostitution.

"It has become clear to me," Ramos said in a letter announcing the group's first meeting, "that the children engaging in these criminal acts are also victims," which is a new way of looking at the problem and also focusing enforcement against the pimps.

The coalition springs from a series of meetings between county and municipal agencies, such as the Department of Health, Child Protective Services, the Probation Department and the Sheriff's Department, as well as Ontario police.

The first meeting will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon March 20 at the sheriff's headquarters at 655 E. Third St. in San Bernardino.

Fontana teacher cuts blasted

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:15:11 -0800

More than 100 teachers, parents and students at the Fontana Unified School District's board meeting Wednesday night protested the 380 preliminary layoff notices sent to certificated employees last week.

"You guys say it's all about the children," Southridge Middle School student Madelynn Ramos told the school board. "Taking away the teachers is not a very good way of showing it."

The district faces a $12.4 million shortfall the rest of the school year and $17.7 million for 2009-10.

Highland teenager hit by car while crossing street

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:40:52 -0800

A 15-year-old San Gorgonio High School student suffered moderate injuries when he was hit by a vehicle at Baseline and McKinley Avenue in San Bernardino Wednesday.

The teenager and a friend were on lunch break and on their way to a liquor store, according to a sheriff's news release. They decided to cross Baseline 200 feet from the crosswalk.
After he was hit, the Highland teenager was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center by ambulance.

Deputies determined that the Downey man, Juan Nieves, who was driving that car that hit the boy hit him accidentally, according to the release.