CLEARLAKE – In the wake of the death of student Heather Valdez at the hands of her peer, Gabrielle Varney, W.C. Carle High School Principal Bill MacDougall said he is shocked. He said the answer is not upping school security, but fixing the community.
Both girls were juniors at the school when Varney, 18, allegedly stabbed Valdez, 17, with a pocketknife after getting off of the school bus at approximately 2 p.m. on June 5. Clearlake police said Varney reported that the girls had been friends, and that something had changed between them during the past six months.
“This is gut-wrenching. Do I know it happened on my watch? You bet I do. It has affected me tremendously, as it has the students and the families of the two girls. We need to make sure the community changes, and the idea that any student or child would need to carry a knife or feel the need to for their safety ? that”s got to stop,” MacDougall said.
Amid classrooms with interactive white boards, gardens the high school”s 90 to 100 students tend themselves, equipment and backdrop for a daily student news broadcast, 80 percent recycled materials and computers the students worked to repair, MacDougall scratched his head Friday and said the incident shocked and changed him.
“If it could happen here, that”s the red flag. There is so little violence here. Our students are known countywide for their respect and community service,” MacDougall said. “I”ve run scenarios through my head so many times, and I”ve ?what-iffed” myself.”
MacDougall said he”s seen four altercations between students in his 14 years as principal at Carle, none of them involving a weapon. He said metal detectors at the small campus would work, but would not fit in because of the peaceful atmosphere.
“We could put metal detectors at Carle, but if we put fences around the schools with metal detectors, we”re trying to keep the community problems out of the schools, thus a metal detector is a Band-Aid,” MacDougall said.
He pointed to the fact that the recent stabbing happened off of the school campus, saying unkind words can warrant a five-day suspension at Carle, and that students found in possession of a knife are expelled. Pointing out the schools” high test scores, 97 percent attendance rate, community service and high rate off graduation, MacDougall said ensuring students” safety is the community”s job, not just the school”s.
“The fact that this (school) is the one being scrutinized is not bad. It clearly shows that it doesn”t matter what we do in the school system until we look at our community,” MacDougall said.
“Our community is getting progressively more tolerant of violence and it has become more violent. The burning question might be, when and how can we make our community be more kind and less tolerant of violence? That”s really the issue here,” he said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
