Posted on 11/07/2003 5:29:06 AM PST by Arrowhead1952
Westlake's juniors and seniors damage middle school, police and administrators say
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, November 7, 2003
A Westlake High School tradition involving juniors, seniors and lots of eggs got out of hand last weekend, police and school administrators say.
About 100 students armed with thousands of eggs fought a yolk battle Saturday evening in the West Ridge Middle School parking lot, Eanes Superintendent Jess Butler said.
In addition to creating a huge mess that required a cleanup crew on Sunday, the egg-throwing teens caused about $2,000 worth of damage to the West Ridge principal's car. Some students damaged the roof after climbing on top of the building, said police and school officials, who are still determining total cleanup and repair costs.
The annual junior-senior egg battle dates back years, but this is the first time students have waged war on school property, Westlake Principal Alan Veach said.
Butler said that West Ridge Principal Terri Rodgers, who was at the school when the egg fight started, called the West Lake Hills police when the students ignored her demands to stop.
When sheriff's deputies arrived as backup, many of the students immediately scattered, said Roger Wade, spokesman for the Travis County sheriff's department. Officers were able to detain 28 students for questioning, he said.
One student's car contained 30 dozen eggs, Wade said.
Investigators are questioning students this week, hoping to learn names of others involved.
"We are still in the early stages," Wade said. "It's going to take a few days for us to sort this one out."
Students could face misdemeanor criminal mischief or more serious charges, but it's too early to tell whether charges will be filed, he said.
Butler visited the school Saturday night to help assess the damage. Butler's e-mail to board members indicated that the damage could total several thousand dollars and that damage to Rodgers' car totaled more than $2,000.
He said Wednesday that students took at least 4,000 eggs to the campus. In the e-mail, he wrote that it could have been as many as 8,000 eggs.
Veach is trying to determine disciplinary action.
"Our biggest concern is that some of the biggest play makers all got away," he said, adding that he's more focused on making sure this doesn't happen again than on dishing out punishment.
"We're going to see what we can do to get this stopped," he said. "We don't need it. The community doesn't need it."
Donna Howard, the mother of two Westlake graduates and a daughter who's a senior this year, agreed that it's a community problem.
"I do know parents are concerned that (the egg war) crossed over the line of being something that the kids do as a fairly harmless ritual into something that's much more significant and damaging," she said.
Howard said she thought this year's egg wars would be no different than in the past, when the teenagers would throw eggs at each other's cars. Last month, she heard her daughter say that she was going to park her car in someone else's garage during the designated egg weekend.
Howard described one parent's e-mail as indicating that Saturday's fight was "evidence of the growing climate of bully tactics in the community."
Veach and Butler have met with parents and plan larger meetings.
"We've got to get parents involved," Veach said. Because it's a tradition, some parents know of the egg wars and support them, he added.
Investigators are trying to determine where the teenagers got the eggs, if their parents knew and why they chose the middle school, Wade said.
Butler stressed that the egg war was "good fun between two groups" and said the teenagers meant no harm.
"Our goal is to work with parents and students to make sure this energy will be directed in a more positive way," he said.
"I wish that instead of throwing (the eggs), they would cook them for the hungry and homeless people."
Here come the egg-vouchers.
Oh yes, everyone get together and lets explore our feelings on this....
If you are from the Austin area, you heard about the stabbing of the eight teens last week Friday at a Haloween party. Happened after a HS football game between Westlake and another 5A school
One kid on drugs (supposedly mushrooms) came to the party uninvited, and started stabbing some of the other teens. One girls had her spleen lacerated enough to stay in the hospital for several days. Most had their wounds treated at the hospital and were released.
...just move it to the practice field.
A Principle's car is mighty inviting!
I lived in the "armpit" of Westlake Hills after dropping out of college and getting a job. While I was going to UT I lived off Riverside Drive in the lovely "Pleasant Valley Estates" apartments. Riverside Dr was a great place to live if you liked aviation (police helicopters) and firepower. Once, when my girlfriend and I were at a friend's house for dinner, my friend showed me his new police scanner. We were listening in and heard a police chase of a robbery suspect - through the apartment complex I lived in! The cops finally cornered the perp in an abandoned unit then one cop called out, "we have a Mac10 here, we're going to need Special Weapons to come in and disarm it". Needless to say, we stayed at our friend's house for hours afterwards...
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