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School meeting draws crowd Web rumor worries Eagle Point By JIM DAVIS EAGLE POINT -- It looked like a PTA meeting, but the parents asked questions that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Do metal detectors protect against bombs or just weapons? Are you taking any precautions for safety for sporting events, graduation and other events? Do you have an evacuation plan that just the teachers know in case the shooter knows the regular routine? More than 150 parents and students packed an auditorium at Eagle Point High School Monday night to talk with school officials and police about school safety. Eagle Point High Principal Mary Brabbin said she invited all the parents to the open house, in light of the school shooting in Littleton, Colo., last month and a bomb scare at the high school last week. "I thought the turnout was excellent," Brabbin said. "I'm very pleased that we have this many parents and partners who want to work with us." Doug McKinley, a parent and a school board member who attended Monday night, said that the meeting came at a good time. "Right now, people just need to talk," McKinley said. "They need to know what's going on." School officials and Eagle Point police gave a presentation at the beginning and took parents' written questions afterward. Brabbin went over the school protocols with the parents and tried to assure them that their kids are safe. "The greatest resource we have is 1,150 mouths and 2,300 ears," Brabbin said. "The kids are determined to keep this school safe." Parents asked several times about a rumor circulating among the students that someone is going to commit an act of violence at a Jackson County high school or schools on May 17. The rumor reportedly started on the Internet. Medford police Lt. Tim George said police have received conflicting dates on the rumor. He also said that police haven't seen a version of the Internet rumor. Brabbin said that teachers and police are going to take extra precautions that day. She said school officials have to walk a tight line between school safety and being cowed by hoaxes. Even so, Linda Dillingham, who has a daughter who attends the school, said that she is going to let her daughter decide whether to go to school that day. "They (the students) don't want to attend that day, because they're scared," Dillingham said. Several parents huddled in small groups after the meeting, talking among themselves. Many of the parents said they were still worried -- about a repeat of shootings like in Springfield or in Littleton. Margaret Dietrick, a grandmother who has two 16-year-old grandchildren attending Eagle Point High, said that the meeting didn't allay her fears. "I'm still going to worry about my grandchildren," she said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA