After a tumultuous summer including 28 student searches, the Cambridge Public Schools appear to have recovered from their public relations problems as the School Committee election of Nov. 2 approaches.

On May 27 and 28 and June 1, 28 fifth- through ninth-graders in nine Cambridge public schools were searched and interviewed, part of an effort to decrease perceived gang activity, according to Superintendent of Schools Bobbie D'Alessandro. Two weapons (a knife and a meat tenderizer) and graffiti tags thought to be gang symbols were found, and all 28 students said they had some knowledge of gang activity, according to school officials.

But for the students' parents, the searches were not simply a matter of safety but perhaps one of racism. Of the 28 students searched, 21were black or Hispanic, five were white and two were Asian. Also, they criticized the failure to inform some parents that their children had been searched, and the effects the searches had on their children's self-esteem.

"No one has the right in this town to search our kids without a parent permission," said Lawrence Adkins at a meeting of parents in the Cambridge Community Center on June 15.

Lorraine Woodson was one of the most visible leaders of the parental backlash this summer.

"We are here talking about innocent children being searched," she told the Cambridge Chronicle. "I do not want my son stabbed, but I also want him safe from adults who want to tear down his self-esteem."

School Committee members criticized the event as well.

"This should never have happened without parental notification," said E. Denise Simmons, vice-chair of the School Committee, at the June 15 meeting. "How could this happen?"

At its June 22 meeting, the School Committee passed several motions in response to the searches after emotional parents testified. These included ordering the superintendent to write letters of apology to the 26 weaponless students searched, and that an administrator familiar to the children be present during future searches.