Thirteen Charlotte Amalie High school students avoided expulsion for their involvement in a May 24 fight that escalated into a much larger brawl where two female students were stabbed. The school district placed these students in Edith Williams Alternative Academy’s program for rehabilitation.
Among them are the 17-year-old male who stabbed two female students, and the two female victims who some school officials say instigated the physical altercation by attacking the male student first.
“The students will need to respond to the one-on-one sessions with the counselors and excel in the classes,” said Education Department spokeswoman Ananta Pancham. “It’s not indefinite. They will have a chance to matriculate. But any return to (CAHS) depends on the particular student.”
The students will serve the remainder of the school year at Edith Williams and enroll at the alternative school’s program for the 2013-2014 school year. They will stay there until Superintendent Jeanette Smith-Barry deems they are fit to return to CAHS, Pancham said.
The school year ends June 19.
The students cannot appeal for earlier reinstatement or hasten their return to CAHS. The decision is solely up to the discretion of Smith-Barry. None of the 13 students are seniors so no one was denied the opportunity to graduate, Pancham said.
The school district tried to thread the needle between outright expulsion and a punishment that might be deemed too lenient; some parents had complained they were given inadequate notice about a June 6 administrative hearing and a May 31 school hearing.
Pancham said school officials would have been within their rights to expel the students, particularly the students who brandished a weapon or were involved in the fight. Among the school policies:
- any assault or violence perpetrated with a weapon is termed a Level 4 offense in the school district’s discipline policy and is punishable by expulsion;
- any disruptive behavior that results in personal injury or threatens the welfare of students can lead to a suspension of up to 10 days, according to the student handbook;
- fighting is a mandatory 10-day suspension.
The Edith Williams program is a blend of academic work and counseling, Pancham said. Students need to show improvement before they’re allowed back onto CAHS campus.
“The counselors are very caring. It’s one-on-one. That’s the way (Edith Williams) works. There’s a reason we recommended it. There’s a good level of success there,” Pancham said.
The May 24 fight ultimately created a much larger confrontation.
School officials held disciplinary hearings June 6 at the Curriculum Center where students and faculty gave their accounts of the fight. Officials close to the investigation said the larger fight was instigated in part by a long-simmering feud between students from different areas including Altona and the Round De Field neighborhood in Hospital Ground.
Both female students were rushed to the hospital with non-fatal wounds and eventually released.
Deputy Superintendent Michael Harrigan officiated at the June 6 hearings and recommended to Smith-Barry that the offending students be placed at Edith Williams. Smith-Barry agreed and made the same recommendation to acting Education Commissioner Donna Frett-Gregory who also agreed.
The fight began on the eastern part of the campus near Building B around noon. The conflict started as an argument between a 17-year-old male student and two 15 and 16-year-old female students but quickly spiraled into a physical altercation with the male student stabbing the female students while struggling with them on the ground.
This initial confrontation escalated and students began fighting each other while stomping and kicking other students on the ground. School officials ordered a “code yellow” for students to remain in their classrooms while monitors broke up the fight.
School officials have several security measures in place to avoid a similar incident in the future. CAHS has security cameras, sensors and lighting to illuminate dimly lit areas where students sometimes congregate, Pancham said. More monitors might be helpful but resources are scarce.
“That’s a money and staffing issue that Superintendent (Smith-Barry) is well aware of,” said Pancham, who also pointed out there was a random check for weapons on CAHS campus the day of the fight by security.
“We try to monitor and avoid these things as much as possible,” Pancham said. “But we also need the students to operate in compliance with the regulations. They’re not supposed to fight or have weapons. They should know that.”
