Worcester Public Schools to Station WPD Officers at North High

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

GoLocal Worcester News Team

Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Melinda Boone and Mayor Joe Petty announced on Monday that a full-time police liaison and a plain-clothed police officer will now be at North High until the end of the school year.

Boone and Petty met with City Manager Ed Augustus, Police Chief Gary Gemme, and other WPD and WPS personnel to determine what steps to take to improve safety at North.

As GoLocal Worcester reported, last Wednesday a vice principal was assaulted when he got caught trying to break up a fight between four students. He had to go to the hospital for injuries sustained in the fight.

On Monday evening, radio talk show host Jordan Levy asked Boone and Petty, "Why aren’t we just removing those kids? That’s what we have alternative schools for. We established alternative schools to remove the kids that disrupt the school. We shouldn’t allow the kids to disrupt the school plan.”

"There’s a belief that we aren’t suspending students. We have limitations in terms of long we can suspend. Law requires that we do a full investigation on incidents. Once we have determined the students level of involvement then we are issuing all of the discipline that is available to us," said Boone.

Beyond the police presence, the city is also trying to tie cameras at North to the Real-Time Crime Center at WPD.

“Hopefully, to the extent of activity there is going to be a deterrent effect and that the students know it’s on camera. And if something does happen there, that’s going to be evidence. Whether it be for school discipline or prosecution," said Augustus.

Boone said, "The core of what we are dealing with here is it is a very complex set of issues. If there was any one entity or any one group of students then we could target that group and work to dismantle whatever is happening. The students that were in the fight last Wednesday didn’t have any relation to fight on January 20."

Following a bomb threat on January 20, Worcester Police responded to a fight between 30 to 40 students on the third floor of North. During the fight, a male teacher was punched in the head twice and an assistant principal was spit on.

Another teacher was assaulted by a 6’0”, 235 pound 17-year-old male student. The teacher was struck in the chest by the male student while the teacher was attempting to get his students away from the fight.

Three students were arrested by the Worcester Police Department. Two of the students were arrested for Assault and Battery and Disruption of School Assembly. One student was only charged with Disruption of School Assembly.

The bomb threat was the fourth bomb threat of the year. That following Friday, on January 23, 599 students were absent after parents and guardians of North High students were alerted of a possible threat to the school.