A real disaster during mock quake drill

Not everything went off as planned at the big earthquake drill today.

Los Angeles Unified School officials said Thursday that a teacher at Robert Frost Middle School in Granada Hills was removed from the classroom and placed in a "non-school setting" after five of her students were injured during the earthquake on campus.

Los Angeles police said the matter was being investigated by the Los Angeles School Police Department but confirmed that officers had taken a "battery report." Los Angeles Unified spokeswoman Monica Carazo said that because it was a personnel matter, she was limited in what she could say about the incident, which took place during the earthquake preparedness drill.

Carazo confirmed there were injuries and said two of the students complained of bruising. She would not elaborate on the circumstances leading to their injuries or the exact nature of the teacher's conduct in connection with the case. She would only identify the teacher as a woman and said the injuries were not severe enough to require treatment at a hospital.

Before the drill, Frost Middle School Principal Elias De La Torre sent a letter home to parents announcing there would be a district-wide earthquake drill, declaring: "The goals of the training drill are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives and reduce injuries."

Carazo said a new letter would be sent to parents informing parents of the incident.

--Andrew Blankstein