Parents have questions after fight at high school
Parents packed the East Allegheny school board meeting Monday to question the district’s communication with parents and school safety in the wake of a fight last Friday involving 14 students in the high school cafeteria.
Police were called, and the school was placed on lockdown for a brief period as a precaution. Superintendent Donald MacFann sent a letter about the incident to parents on Monday.
At Monday’s meeting, several parents asked why they didn’t receive a notification on the day of the fight.
“Friday afternoon it was chaos, so there was no way to get you that information,” board president GerriMcCulloughsaid.
But Erik Meredith, father of two children in the district, said a number of social media methods can be used to contact parents in such a situation. He said he received a
notification of the lockdown on his phone from a source that was not the school district.
Courtney Weaver, who said she works an hour away, said she learned about the fight when her son texted her, saying he was “legit terrified.”
Robin Highlands, president of the East Allegheny Education Association, the district teachers’ union, expressed concern about school safety.
“I shouldn’t be hearing from teachers that they are afraid to come to school. I shouldn’t hear from students they are petrified to be in school,” she said.
“Teachers and students need to feel the school environment is safe and welcoming,” she said to applause from the audience.
Several speakers said they believed the district began having problems when students from Duquesne transferred into East Allegheny, which occurred in 2007. But Mrs. McCullough said students in the fight were from North Versailles, East McKeesport and Wilmerding as well as Duquesne.
District solicitor Dan Beisler said students involved in the fight may face either in-school or out-ofschool suspension or expulsion.
The school board will meet Monday to discuss the district’s policies about how to handle similar incidents, Mr. MacFann said.