By Dana Williams
despite criticism from some students that the restrictions are too harsh.
At an informational meeting held with parents on April 30, school officials said that the new security measures -which include banning students from using any electronic device - were implemented after a large fight occured at the high school between juniors and seniors, in which two staff members received minor injuries.
The meeting was a follow-up to a forum held on March 13, and it provided parents with an update on what has been done to address the issue. Principal Susan Knors told parents that security guards are required to check any vehicle entering the school grounds after first period, so staff members are aware of who is on the school's premises.
After hundreds of parents and students expressed concerns about not being able to identify the security guards at the last meeting, Knors also said that security guards at the high school will be receiving new uniforms to help distinguish them from students. To help with efforts to prevent similar fights in the future, the district has also provided the high school with a security van for guards to use while they are patrolling school grounds.
"[The security van] is a good presence of security for students from other schools who might wonder about coming onto our campus," Knors said. "It symbolically lets them know that we do have strong security."
At the March 13 meeting, school officials gave a chronology of the events that escalated into a melee in the school's commons area on March 7. Officials are now controlling the number of people in the commons by requiring students to meet with their advisors and coaches at a specific place for after school activities, Knors said.
A few parents at the latest meeting said that they believe the changes have been successful and they hope school officials will continue to come up with different ways to help students.
The exact reason for the disagreements between the junior and senior students, which is believed by many to be the cause of the melee, has not been determined, according to Knors. The principal announced, however, that the class officers from both grades have established a focus group to continue to discuss their differences. Many parents at the meeting wanted to know what officials are doing to discipline the students who continue to be disruptive in class, with many expressing that repeated suspensions and expulsions should be imposed. School Superintendent Dr. Britto said, however, that there are legal constraints that prevent school officials from taking such severe actions.
"Every student has the right to be educated and every student has rights in due process," he explained to more than 40 people at the meeting. With some students involved in the fracas receiving the school's maximum suspension of five days, Britto added that by law, school officials eventually have to try to determine the cause of the problem instead of continuing to suspend the same student.
"When a behavior trend appears with a student, it could be that the student has special needs and [school officials] are obligated by law to say that we suspect the student may have a disability," he said.
Besides issuing suspensions to many of the students involved in the fight, Knors added that officials had meetings with "many of the parents of the initiators of the fight" to discuss how the problems could be resolved. She also discussed the other ways that officials are attempting to improve the students' behavior problems, which includes getting them involved with the school's mentoring program.
"We have connected the kids returning from suspensions with mentors, and I think we have done an excellent job," she said, adding that with parental permission, students also have the option of seeing the school psychologist. "We have expanded our mentoring program tremendously because we have over 40 teachers officially trained and who have volunteered for the program. I think we have to try both ways."
The teachers at the high school are also required to identify themselves when they are approaching students to speak with them. Officials believe that this will help to improve communication between students and teachers because the method "shows a respectful level for both parties," Knors said.
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
