"The kids will not be allowed to take control of the building," Cheryl Link said. "It's getting to the point where it's an embarrassment."

Link said 15 students, including the junior arrested Tuesday over the hit list, may be expelled as the school board holds disciplinary hearings. She added that the board had adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy for misbehavior.

The junior, 16, was charged with making terroristic threats after a teacher discovered a list that included the names of three students and a school administrator.

Another name on the list was Chuck Norris, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Pennsauken police said they were unsure if the name referred to the actor and martial-arts expert.

The actor - best known for his TV role in Walker, Texas Ranger, and a supporter of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee - is an outspoken advocate of building discipline in high schools by teaching students karate.

Pennsauken police found no weapons on the student or in his locker, Superintendent James Chapman said in a statement. After his arrest, the boy was suspended and released to his parents.

Last month, seven Pennsauken students were arrested after tires on about 40 district buses were slashed, Link said.

Six other students have been accused of pulling false fire alarms, she said. The board is investigating whether some were bribed or bullied into doing so, she said. Fifteen have been pulled since Jan. 1.

Last month, several students approached the school board "begging for help," Link said.

"Their education is being disrupted," she said. "The administration is trying to solve the problem, but I don't know why the children aren't getting the message."

The hit list and the arrest were a big topic yesterday at the school, which has an enrollment of 1,732. Students, including some acquainted with the junior, said they didn't believe any serious threat had been intended, but supported the administration's actions.

Victor Orio, 17, a junior, said he viewed the recent incidents not as a control problem at the high school but as "kids crying out for attention."

He described the student arrested over the hit list as someone who "likes negative attention." He said that he didn't think the student would have carried out the threat, but that he thought the discipline was appropriate.

"I think they acted the right way because you never know," Orio said. "Look at Columbine. Look at the Virginia Tech massacre."

He didn't find other recent events amusing, either.

"It's disruptive when people keep pulling fire alarms and I'm trying to learn," he said.

Junior Joseph Ahmad, 17, said he, too, did not believe the student would have carried about the threat but did not disagree with the administration's response.

"I do feel that it was a joke, but I do think it's necessary to take the proper precautions," Ahmad said.

He speculated that the recent bad behavior could be "a last showing of freedom" before a new uniform policy goes into effect in the fall.

Ashley Royds, 18, a senior, said things had been a bit much of late.

"I think that people are definitely being out of control," she said. "I think a lot of students are overexcited about summer coming, and they're not taking things seriously."

Royds said she felt safe at school - "as much as you can feel safe in a high school these days. With all the problems high schools have, there's always the fear of guns and all that. . . . I know kids have knives. I've had people ask me if I have a knife they can borrow."

John Martino, a math teacher with 13 years at Pennsauken, said he did not believe Pennsauken was out of control.

Some other schools do a better job of "sweeping stuff under the rug," he said, noting he had never felt unsafe at the school.

"I'll put our best kids against anybody else's best kids, and we'll win hands down," Martino said.