HELLISH HIGH
‘Gang’ brawl vid at Qns. HS as union tells of kid fear
IT’S BECOMING the school of hard knocks, and a safety agent union leader says students are scared.
Violence erupted at troubled Richmond Hill High School in Queens, as police responded to two incidents involving students — and a vicious brawl caught on tape.
School safety officials said a video recorded by students at the school on March 10 shows a gang initiation, with a crowd of students pummeling each other on campus.
Cops responded to the school after two girls struck another girl in the face, according to police records for that day.
The victim didn’t report any injuries, but a shaky cell phone video that safety agents provided to the Daily News shows a melee with a mob of students punching each other.
The safety agents union president, Greg Floyd, said scared students gave the video to agents at the school in a cry for help.
“The de Blasio school violence coverup isn’t working,” Floyd said. “Students are afraid of the gangs, guns, knives. They came to us because no one at City Hall is listening.”
Eric Phillips, a spokesman for Mayor de Blasio, said “No truth to it. No evidence behind it. No idea where the suggestion comes from.”
School officials wouldn’t say whether the video and the police incidents were connected.
But nearly two weeks later, an 18-year-old student was removed from the school and taken to a hospital after screaming threats at staffers.
“I’m gonna get you all after school. I’m gonna f--- you all up,” he yelled in the March 23 incident, police said.
That student, who is white, also hurled racist taunts at a black school administrator, cops said.
The three students involved in the two incidents were charged with harassment, police said.
Education Department spokeswoman Toya Holness said only one of the incidents occurred on school grounds.
“We are providing the school with ongoing resources, trainings and support to address challenges that are taking place outside of school,” Holness said.
Richmond Hill High School has struggled for years with academic and safety issues, earning a place in Mayor de Blasio’s controversial Renewal Schools program for troubled classrooms.
Just four out of five students said they felt safe in the school hallways in a 2015 city survey. In 2016, 64% of students at Richmond Hill graduated on time, compared with the city average of 73%.