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Published: Thursday, November 1, 2007

2 lockdowns spook students

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By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

NILES — More than half the student body at Niles McKinley High School was absent Wednesday, the schools superintendent says.

Superintendent Rocco Adduci said that 478 students were absent and 346 attended classes in the wake of two school lockdowns this week.

"Not very good," Adduci said of the absenteeism rate.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Bruce Simeone has ordered his officers to enforce the daytime curfew ordinance.

Simeone said if students are seen walking around the city without their parents or guardian, they will be taken to police headquarters under the curfew law to wait for a parent or guardian to pick them up.

Adduci said that unless the students have legitimate excuses, they will be marked as absent. The state requires students to attend classes 90 percent of the time, he added.

He said that if parents aren't sending their children to school because they believe the building is unsafe, it's not a legitimate excuse.

"The building is safe" and has been, Adduci said.

School Principal Michael Notar expressed confidence that the students who wrote a threat on a boys restroom wall Wednesday will eventually be caught.

"There's no doubt we'll get to the bottom of it," he said. "A name will surface in the next few days."

Notar said some students have already come forward with information. Students in each classroom were told not to protect the person responsible.

A freshman student was charged with inciting violence after a note he wrote resulted in Monday's lockdown.

Because of the threats, some parents said Tuesday that they were going to keep their children home Wednesday.

Notar said that if the students were in any danger because of the threats, he would have them lying on the floor and the classroom lights turned off. This wasn't the case either day, he added.

Notar said that Wednesday's absences will be treated like any other unauthorized absence unless they are legitimate.

He explained that if a parent had called in Wednesday because their child wasn't feeling well or if the parents sends a note telling the administration why the child wasn't in school, it will be an excused absence.

"Eventually they have to return" to school, Notar said.

If a student misses six days, Notar explained, a cautioning letter is sent to the parents. After 12 absent days, a letter is sent to Trumbull County Family Court that can result in a truancy charge against the student.

He said that the court has been stepping in when it receives a truancy letter from the school.

Among the reasons for an authorized absence, Notar said, are personal illness, family illness, death in family, religious holidays, court appearances, college visits and vacations if authorized by the school.

yovich@vindy.com

Thursday, November 1, 2007