Protest of School Layoffs Becomes Brief Rampage

Seven students were detained for truancy Friday at Robert Frost Junior High in Granada Hills when a demonstration against proposed faculty layoffs led to vandalism of a handful of cars in the neighborhood.

During the brief rampage, protesters broke the antennas and rear-view mirrors on two parked cars and smashed the window of a pickup truck, slightly injuring its driver, Los Angeles police said. No charges were sought because police were unable to identify the vandals, and the detained students were turned over to school officials, Sgt. Joseph Morgan said.

About 1,000 of the school’s 1,650 students walked out shortly after 8 a.m., before the first-period class, Morgan said. The number who stayed out of class quickly dwindled to 300 to 500 students, who remained on the campus lawn, peacefully chanting “save our teachers” and voicing anger over the affect of the proposed layoffs.