*Students Behavior Real, imagined or forseen?***** My comments :-) Charter school draws complaints Faculty, kids in Lake Highlands say neighbors' claims of disorder unfair 02/29/2000 By Dane Schiller / The Dallas Morning News Neighborhoods have gone to war over bars and topless clubs in their parts of town, but some merchants in Dallas' Lake Highlands area want to shut down a school. Heritage Academy, a charter high school housed in a shopping center, is drawing the concern of business owners, a City Council member and the police over allegations that students are harassing shoppers and making a nuisance of themselves. School officials say that the complaints are unfounded and that police are using "Gestapo tactics" to intimidate kids trying to get an education. "We want to be part of this community, but it is David and Goliath," said Donna Darnell, executive administrator of the year-old school that receives public financing and tries to help students at risk of dropping out. She emphasized that Heritage does not accept students with behavior problems. The parents' group at the school is scheduled to meet Tuesday night to discuss its future. "We are such a little-bitty school," she said. "Why do we have such big guns after us?" Ms. Darnell said Dallas police regularly station marked cruisers and a large police van in the shopping center's parking lot. Assistant Police Chief Jerry McDonald said officers aren't trying to bother students but are responding to residents' complaints of robberies and gunfire in the area. "We are not trying to make kids fearful," he said. "We intend to be a neutral party. We are not trying to intimidate anyone." Chief McDonald said the robberies and gunfire have not been traced to Heritage students. Merchants also complained that students were smoking marijuana, but police said they have not substantiated those allegations. City Council member Alan Walne, who met with school officials Monday, has said he thinks the school's size makes it incompatible with neighboring businesses. Heritage has about 450 students. Community leaders and business owners say the situation has gotten intolerable in the corner shopping center at Kingsley and Audelia roads, which is shared by the school, a day-care center, a bank and retail stores. "The neighborhood is not used to that kind of crowd," said Jerre Moser, assistant manager of a hardware store next to the school. Students "congregate and stand out here and intimidate customers." On Monday, a few students lingered in the parking lot before classes began. When the school day ended, the parking lot emptied of students within 10 minutes. Pat O'Shea, president of the White Rock Valley Neighborhood Association, which includes Lake Highlands, said the school doesn't fit in at the shopping center. "They get in these groups and scare women who are afraid to get out and shop," he said. "It is getting kind of hairy. . . . We are asking them to relocate or control their kids." Cheynesa Scott, assistant director of the day-care center, said students stopped congregating near her playground when she complained to Heritage officials. School officials said they have taken steps to try to improve relations with their neighbors, including releasing the students in smaller groups at the end of classes. The school also has hired an off-duty police officer as a security guard and assigned faculty members to make sure students leave the parking lot promptly. Students said the parking lot is less chaotic than at traditional public schools and credited Heritage with helping them stay on track academically. "I honestly think it is ridiculous," said Cristal Lazaro, 16. "People see the way kids dress and complain. If they would go up and talk to them, there would be nothing wrong. They are not trying to aggravate anybody." Ricky White, 17, said he was having trouble in traditional public schools, but at Heritage he expects to be named student of the month for the second time. He called the police presence unfair and intimidating. "It makes us feel like we are the bad ones," he said. "I feel like we are the good ones." Mr. Walne said he asked police to assess the crime situation near the school and take whatever action was deemed necessary. "Ultimately, I don't think any school with 500 kids should be in a retail location," he said. "There seems to be an awareness: 'Hey, we are getting people's dander up, and we need to do what we need to do to be responsible.' " Mary Doman, who owns a postal business and is in charge of a neighborhood crime-watch group, said unruly students loiter in the parking lot and scare away customers. She said her own customers are bothered daily by Heritage students. "I have lived here 31 years, and I have never seen anything impact the neighborhood to this degree," she said. Mrs. Darnell said her students are being unfairly blamed. "The way they describe these kids, you would think my building would be full of holes and graffiti," she said. "We have done everything I think we could to get along." ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com