String of violent activity occurs on school grounds

A recent string of violent activity, including two fights between girls, heated behavior between groups of boys and a drawn weapon, has caused a stir within the Blair administration, which believes that none of the incidents are gang related.

In one incident, two students were playing around in a classroom when one drew a pocketknife. Amid the horseplay, the other student received a "small, superficial laceration," according to Assistant Principal Linda Wanner, who gave the student with the pocketknife a 10-day suspension with a recommendation for expulsion. The student with the laceration was not seriously injured.

On March 22, two groups of boys – the "88s" and the "Maple Avenue crew" – were "bucking like broncos and acting tough," Wanner wrote in an e-mail, later adding that the hostility was a spillover from the community and that the groups were not official gangs. "I don't know if they're all that organized," she said.

Security guard Ed Reddick corroborated Wanner's statement. "They live in a community, and just go by their community name," he said.

Ninth-grade administrator James Short added that perceiving the groups as gangs may be incorrect. "I'm treating it as a group of kids who have issues with each other," he said.

Principal Phillip Gainous and Short compiled a list of the students in each group and suspended them for a few days. Though no actual fight occurred, school administrators cited several different reasons for suspending the students. Wanner said that there was "a lot of electricity in the air" and the students were "almost having a fight." Short stated that the groups were "inciting a disturbance" and Reddick mentioned that "it's policy within the [plan]book."

The students of the two groups and their parents met with administrators the following week, on March 27. "All of the people agreed that they would cut it out," said Wanner.

Also on March 22, two underclassmen girls, one from Blair and one from another high school, engaged in a fight after night school. The next day, friends of both girls continued the fight after lunch and were suspended for 10 days. The girls who fought during night school were also suspended, and the girl from the other high school was removed from night school permanently.

On March 20, seven senior girls from two Hispanic cliques fought in front of the media center. The fight had been a spillover from a series of personal attacks on one girl in Myspace, a social networking web site popular with teenagers. "We first of all saw it in the hallways," said Wanner. "When we talked to the students, we found out what happened that weekend." Administration suspended the girls for five days and then met with their parents on March 27. "They all agreed that they would 'bury the hatchet,' so to say," said Wanner.