State official urges steps against school violence

CARSON CITY -- Unless preventive steps are taken, it is only a matter of time before a Nevada public school or college is the scene of a horrific killing spree like those at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said Thursday.

"It is not a question of if, it is a question of when," she told members of the Legislature's Committee on Education.

Cortez Masto outlined the recommendations that the National Association of Attorneys General made to stop school violence. The organization appointed a task force to study school violence after the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 dead. The April 1999 Columbine shootings in Colorado killed 13.

The attorney general said schools and colleges should operate telephone hot lines that students can call and anonymously report threats or express concerns about fellow students who may be on the verge of violence.

"In almost all of these (school violence) incidents, the kids knew it was going to occur," Cortez Masto said. "They were too afraid to come forward."

While there would be crank calls to a hot line, she said steps must be taken to stop violence before it occurs.

"I'm interested in a statewide hot line," she said.

Besides the anonymous system to report threats and potential violence, Cortez Masto said the attorneys general recommended these reports be given to individuals with training who can refer potentially violent students to places where they can receive assistance.

Contacted in Las Vegas, Clark County School District spokesman David Roddy said the district already has hot lines where students, parents and others can report anonymously their concerns about violence or crime.

Students who have experienced threats or fear violence from other students can call 799-0228 or the school district police dispatch number at 799-5411. The latter number also can be called by residents who see anything suspicious occurring on school campuses.

Cortez Masto's views found a receptive audience in legislators.

Assemblyman Lynn Stewart noted that he is a retired Clark County School District teacher who always tried to assist school outcasts, referring specifically to students "with black fingernails and trench coats." About 5 percent of students feel isolated and believe the educational system is against them, said Stewart, R-Las Vegas.

"I tried to reach out to them," he said. "Some of them are mentally disturbed, but some only need a friendly touch."

Assemblyman Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, said students know when their classmates are disturbed, but they "don't want to be the snitch."

"It is all about peer pressure," said Denis, a state PTA leader.

During the legislative hearing, Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said a state Web site also should be created where students could report their concerns and parents and students could find out about incidents of violence at schools and colleges.

"Where can parents go now if something happens?" she asked.

Cortez Masto said she would support Cegavske's idea and would even be willing to devote portions of her own Web site to that plan.

The attorneys general also want states and the federal government to amend privacy laws that prevent medical authorities from sharing any information about mentally disturbed students with school authorities.

Attempts to secure information about the Nevada System of Higher Education's procedures for dealing with school violence were unsuccessful.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech violence, the state Board of Regents last year initially considered a plan to arm professors but then defeated it.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3901.