Incident Heightens Relevance Of West Valley Safety Meeting

A meeting set up to discuss safety issues in West Valley School District will take on added significance after a gang-related shooting Sunday.

“I send (parents) a letter saying we need to be safe, and four or five days later we have a shooting outside my office,” Superintendent Dave Smith told the West Valley School Board this week.

The shooting occurred Sunday night outside WV’s district office at Argonne and Buckeye. Three youths were hit by a spray of bullets from a passing car. Police arrested a 17-year-old, but are still looking for his two companions.

At least two of the youths involved - one victim and the suspect who was arrested - attended West Valley High School during part of the past school year.

The safety meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in the West Valley High School auditorium. District officials invited members of the community to gather to discuss safety issues, including the job description for the high school’s new security officer.

But the shooting sent a “ripple effect” through the community, said Cleve Penberthy, principal at WVHS. Parents and students called him in the days following the shooting, concerned about safety.

“The kids involved were our kids. This is a big issue,” he said. Frustrated that this “madness” distracts educators from the real business of educating kids, Penberthy asserted nonetheless that safety comes first.

“Health, safety and welfare is our first challenge,” he said. “From there, we educate.”

The incident will probably ensure a good turnout at the meeting, Smith said, and will likely dominate conversation. At least three school board members said they plan to attend.

Other topics to be dicussed at the meeting include: laws relative to weapons on school property, what schools in the area are doing to provide a safe environment and information gathered by the Sheriff’s Department concerning increased crime in the Valley.

“The community needs to see us combine together to say we’re going to make this community safe for kids,” Smith said. “We need to make sure that when (students) are under our guard, that we literally guard them.”

, DataTimes