Valley Central High School fights prompt parent safety concerns
Students were seen fighting in hallways on Friday while staff tried to get the situation under control. The district says there were two fights but parents tell News 12 they believe there were more.
Parents in the Valley Central School District are voicing safety concerns after a series of fights last week involving multiple high school students.
The chaos was captured on student video and given to News 12 by worried parents.
Students were seen fighting in hallways on Friday while staff tried to get the situation under control. The district says there were two fights but parents tell News 12 they believe there were more.
“It looks like there were four different fights based on the footage I saw. It’s concerning because the security guards were actually having to tackle the students,” says one parent.
“We moved from the Bronx to be in safer schools and I feel like this is worse than where we came from,” says another parent.
The district put out a statement online saying reports of more than two fights are false.
Montgomery police say the incidents triggered two holds in place and tell News 12 that several students staged what appeared to be fights but weren’t.
Police say there were also two fights in the high school the day before on Thursday.
“They’re telling us that they’re fixing the problem and it’s not going away,” says a parent.
The district letter to parents says no students or staff were hurt.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the high school campus was put in a hold in place for the last two periods of the day, had a staggered dismissal. Additional security officers and law enforcement were also present. The safety of our students and staff is our first priority," says superintendent Evette Avila. "It has been determined that these incidents were isolated to a small group of students. The students directly involved in these altercations were addressed according to the Code of Conduct. We will continue to fully investigate all information we receive regarding Friday’s incidents. I would like to express my gratitude for our school community in being a continued partner in keeping our children and staff safe.”
Police say the school is handling the incidents and that no arrests were made.
