Santa Rosa High School alerts parents to bullets found on campus

Santa Rosa High School is alerting parents about the recent discovery of bullets on the Mendocino Avenue campus.

A total of seven bullets were found in four incidents in recent weeks, Principal Brad Coscarelli wrote in a Nov. 16 letter that some parents received Monday. Bullets were found both inside and outside school buildings.

Neither Coscarelli nor the Santa Rosa police lieutenant who oversees school resource officers could be reached for comment Monday.

Students at the high school and other campuses in the Santa Rosa City Schools district have the week off for Thanksgiving.

Coscarelli’s letter states that school officials and police began an immediate investigation after the bullets were found, interviewing students, speaking with staff and searching the school. The letter didn’t say what, if anything, the investigation uncovered.

The school is working with ?the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office to bring in experts to speak with students for a gun violence-prevention program, Coscarelli wrote.

That program, Gun Violence Information for Teens, or GIFT, has existed for a decade and involves the District Attorney’s Office and St. Joseph Health, said Brian Staebell, chief deputy district attorney.

In a two-hour session, a prosecutor tells students about the possible criminal penalties for gun possession, while a nurse describes the physical effects of gunshot wounds, including real-life cases from the emergency room.

“The goal is to present it to the entire Santa Rosa High School student body this year,” Staebell said of the program. The school last year had 2,000 students.

A man whose son attends the high school said Monday that the recurring discovery of bullets deserves a more vigorous response than talking to students about gun violence.

“If that’s their solution to make sure this doesn’t turn into a major incident, that’s not satisfactory to me,” he said. Given the frequency of shootings at U.S. schools and other public venues, he said, officials should increase the number of police officers on campus or consider using metal detectors as schools do elsewhere in the U.S.

In the letter, Coscarelli urged parents to speak with their children about school safety and encourage them to alert parents, teachers or administrators “if a situation exists which could ever place them or others in danger.”

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to remove the identity of a parent who wished to be quoted anonymously.