On Monday, Jan. 4, a student was caught – and stopped – attempting to carry a handgun onto the Highline High School campus in Burien by a School Resource Officer. The weapon was confiscated, and the student was expelled per Highline Public School policy, as well as state regulations about guns on campus. “We want students to feel safe and be safe at school,” Principal Vicki Fisher said. “Please take the time to discuss with your child the importance of immediately telling an adult any time they see a weapon or something that looks like a weapon at school. Assure your child that reporting a weapon is the right thing to do and protects everyone at school from harm.” Here’s a letter sent out to parents via email:

January 4, 2016 Dear Highline Families: There was a situation at school today that I want to share with you. When a group of students were seen coming on campus during a class period, our School Resource Officer stopped them. One of the students had a hand gun. The gun was confiscated and the student involved was expelled per Highline’s board policy as well as state regulations. Please remind your children of the seriousness of bringing any weapon to school. We want students to feel safe and be safe at school. Please take the time to discuss with your child the importance of immediately telling an adult any time they see a weapon or something that looks like a weapon at school. Assure your child that reporting a weapon is the right thing to do and protects everyone at school from harm. Thank you for reviewing this important school rule and our safety procedures with your children. Please call me at 206.631.6700 if you have questions or concerns. Sincerely, Vicki Fisher Principal
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10 replies on “Student caught carrying handgun onto Highline High School campus Monday”

    1. So very well said! CM Berkowitz was simply wrong about resource officers. They are an important element in keeping our kids safe and this incident highlights that fact. They are worth the expense…no question.

      1. Sadly, she certainly did when she voted against the approval of the cost sharing between the district and the City of Burien to fund the officer – story here: http://jonlehman.synology.me:8666/BtownBlog/2015/10/06/highline-school-resource-officer-sharing-agreement-okd-by-burien-council/
        What a quote from her: “they do more harm in schools than they aid students.”

        “In a relatively short meeting Monday night (Oct. 5), the Burien City Council approved a contract to continue a longstanding agreement with Highline Public Schools for a police officer to remain assigned fulltime.
        The approval of the School Resource officer joint agreement with Highline School District was by a 6-1 vote, with the lone negative vote from Councilmember Lauren Berkowitz. She objected on the grounds that police officers do more harm in schools than they aid students. She said criminalizing school students and having armed police officers in schools was something that should be avoided.”

        1. I was surprised to learn that there were 299 incidents handled by the office in the 2014 school year. It scares the crap out of me to think that A) 299 times the students involved did not care that there was an armed officer on campus when they did what they did and B) how high this number COULD have been if it wasn’t for the armed officer!
          I like Lauren personally, but she really got this one wrong.

  1. Has the party or parties who are responsible for this gun falling into the hands of a teenager been located?
    What is the penalty for such carelessness? If there isn’t a penalty why not? Were police notified? It is time such irresponsible behavior is called out and the adults reprimanded not just by the police but the public as well. There need to be deterrents in place for these kinds of occurrences. Our precious children need to be protected from the stupidity and thoughtlessness of the individuals who leave their guns unsecured!

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