OKC makes changes after middle school fight

A fight at John Marshall Middle School that sent a teacher to the hospital elicited a round of apologies and changes from Oklahoma City Public Schools.

“We have without question had a tough, challenging start to the year,” Superintendent Sean McDaniel said. “… Part of our responsibility is to provide the support necessary to give every school the resources needed to be successful, and we did not do that adequately at this school.”

Frequent behavioral issues at John Marshall piqued media and community attention when a video surfaced of a teacher caught in the middle of a fight between students. The middle school now occupies its own building at 2401 NW 115 Terrace, separate from John Marshall High School.

McDaniel and Deputy Superintendent Jason Brown hosted a news conference Thursday after speaking with staff at the middle school. They announced a new principal and a change to the school's master schedule.

Michael Harris will replace Principal Marcus Macias. The district is also adding a new assistant principal, Chris Gardner, to John Marshall's leadership team.

Macias was in his first year as the middle school's principal after moving from Rancho Village Elementary this summer. He will stay with the district, but his next position hasn't been established yet.

Harris arrives from an assistant principal position at Frederick A. Douglass High School. McDaniel praised Harris' wealth of secondary school experience and relationship-building skills.

“We need to reset, and in this case at this time, that means we need a new voice and we need new leadership moving forward,” McDaniel said. “I want to stop short of saying this that is Marcus' fault or this is the faculty or whatever. This has everything to do with today and moving forward.”

After the fight Monday, Oklahoma City police arrested two 12-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy on a juvenile charge of disorderly conduct.

An ambulance took a teacher to Mercy Hospital after she suffered injuries to her head, ribs and chest while trying to break up the fight, according to a police report of the incident.

The students weren't targeting the teacher but were trying to attack each other, officers reported.

McDaniel apologized form is characterizing the teacher's wounds.

“In a recent press release, I made a comment about a teacher who had intervened in a fight heroically trying to take care of kids, and I referenced it as a minor injury,” McDaniel said. “It was unacceptable. She is OK, but that minimized what actually happened in the hallway. And for that, I do apologize.”

Brown said he has spoken with the teacher and learned that she wants to come back to her students.

Moving ahead, John Marshall will have two security officers and two police officers stationed at the school every day.

The school will have intervention specialists teach staff new expectations and procedures for the hallways and lunchroom. Brown said district teachers would have had this education anyway, but it will be expedited sooner in the school year.

More t han 900 students are spread across nine building son the school campus, which was formerly Graystone Elementary.

A new master schedule could alleviate conflict in the hallways and cafeteria, Brown said. Starting after Labor Day weekend, the new schedule will ensure that only one grade level is passing through each hallway at a time.

Monday's fight occurred between students of multiple grade levels. The changed schedule will balance class sizes and prevent children of different grades from interacting with each other in between classes, Brown said.

For example, eighth grade students will start the school day in their elective classes on one side of the campus. They will move across campus only once and stay in the area housing their core classes for the rest of the day.

“It can look extremely overcrowded if you have all the students trying to walk the same way at the same time,” Brown said. “I do think there's a little difference between an overcrowded hallway and an overcrowded school. With this facility, it holds very easily 900 students, but it needs to be an appropriate schedule for the grade level.”