After a trespasser tries to steal a teacher's watch, the principal puts teachers on patrol when they are not teaching a class.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published February 22, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Gibbs High School principal Herman "Doc" Allen is tightening campus security after a trespasser confronted a teacher.
A dozen School Advisory Council members voted in an emergency meeting Friday to allocate about $9,000 to pay teachers to monitor the property when they are not teaching classes. SAC members approved an additional $2,000 for walkie-talkies so teachers can stay in touch with administrators and the school's resource officer, said SAC member Dudley Clapp.
The teachers will take turns patrolling the campus during their planning periods and after regular school hours when extracurricular activities are scheduled.
Allen called Friday's SAC meeting a week after he issued a Feb. 13 memo to staff members advising them that all buildings will be locked down by 2:45 p.m., about one hour after dismissal. In a separate memo, he notified the staff that all senior privileges for early release from class would be suspended until further notice.
Allen began instituting the security measures after a Spanish teacher at the school at 850 34th St. S, was approached about 3 p.m. Feb. 12 by an intruder who asked her for the time.
District spokesman Ron Stone said Friday that the teacher was leaving her classroom after returning after hours to pick up some materials. When she looked down at her watch, the man attempted to grab it and ran away.
The school's resource officer was notified, and administrators searched for the trespasser.
George Kajtsa, spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department, said that no report of the incident was filed, but that two other incidents at Gibbs were reported on the same day. One was a simple battery involving a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. The other was a "snatching theft," in which an unknown suspect grabbed a 24-inch necklace from a student's neck and ran away.
The school is in the midst of a $47.5-million construction project that is expected to continue through December. Allen told SAC members that the influx of visitors has made it difficult to monitor campus security, Clapp said.
"He saw this as an immediate need that had to be addressed instantly," Clapp said. "He is trying to see what resources we can get from the School Board, but he realizes that would take some time."
