Thousands of fights in Jefferson County KY schools leave some ‘disheartened’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Dec 3 2021 Inside Iroquois High School on Tuesday, several students were recorded on cellphone fighting in the cafeteria. A Jefferson County Public Schools security guard and a student went to the hospital afterward.
John Stovall, the union president that represents not only bus drivers but also about 160 JCPS security guards, said the security guard tried to break up the right along with some staff members.
“He was eventually attacked from the back and pretty much choked out and taken to the hospital,” he said.
Stovall said there’s probably six or seven security guards at Iroquois, but one resigned Monday and two others took other positions in the district.
“It’s been real bad. Unfortunately, it’s common-day occurrence there,” he said. “Iroquois right now has the most attention, but there are other schools as well. And unfortunately, it doesn’t get out in the news like it probably should. Some of the stuff gets swept under the rug.
“They don’t want it out there that’s going on, that type of behavior.”
Also Tuesday, students recorded videos of a fight in the hallway inside Kammerer Middle School. The only information the district released about it was there was a fight and a verbal confrontation.
JCPS said in the first 71 days of this school year, there were 6,700 fights. But that’s actually down from 11,000 fights in the 2019-20 school year for the same time period and 9,700 in the 2018-19 school year.
“Right now, these kids know they’re untouchable,” Stovall said. “And until there are consequences for their actions, they’re not stupid. They know what they can get away with. They know there’s no punishment other than maybe a one-day suspension or something like that.”
JCPS released a statement Wednesday, saying:
“Creating a positive culture and climate in our schools is one of pillars in JCPS. Through restorative practices, our bullying prevention department, and training in de-escalation strategies, we have measures in place to reduce incidents and peacefully resolve conflicts that may arise.”
District spokeswoman Renee Murphy also had the following statement on the fights:
“The number of fights in the first 71 days of this school year is down more than 40% from the same time period two years ago. The students who are getting into fights are being disciplined according to our Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook. “
As for the injured Iroquois security guard, Stovall said he’s recovering at home, taking it a day at a time and is very sore. JCPS said the injuries for the security guard and student are minor.
“He’s a former student from Iroquois High School, so he has kinship and love for the school,” Stovall said of the security guard. “But I’m sure he’s upset and disheartened about what happens there.”
JCPS doesn’t have any school resource officers after the Board of Education didn’t renew their contract in 2019. The district is still working on creating its own internal security force.
Stovall wants the district to make some changes.
“They say they have a student discipline plan, but as you can see, it’s not working when you have that many students out of control,” he said.
WDRB
