Following the latest fight at Revere High School that saw one teacher injured while trying to break it up, Mayor Patrick Keefe has announced several steps the city is taking to help curb violence in the schools.
Those initiatives include an additional school resource officer at the high school and housing the district’s behavioral health unit at the high school.
Last Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Revere Teachers Association held a press conference following a fight at the high school between students where several educators stepped in to try to break it up and one teacher was cut.
That fight came after several earlier incidents at the high school, including a brawl on August 29 that spilled out into the streets around the school.
Following that incident, the city council took about a number of motions at its Sept. 9 meeting, including the possibility of hiring private security to help increase safety at the school as well as installing metal detectors. During the meeting, a number of educators spoke about their safety concerns in the schools, while some councilors and school committee members did say they had questions about the possibility of private security and metal detectors.
During the press conference on Sept. 11, RTA co-president Michelle Ervin said that the fight on that day happened right outside of her classroom.
“Three or four educators had already stepped in … to try to get the students to calm down and separate and stop fighting,” she said. “It ended up going into another classroom, and that’s when I closed the door to my classroom to keep my students out of it and keep them safe.”
Ervin said the teacher who was injured did not even notice he was bleeding until after the incident. She said the scene was chaotic and that she and others were shaken up.
“Everybody knows and has seen me say that we have to do something about this, and it happened and I was right there,” she said. “It is so frustrating to see these students and my colleagues getting hurt.”
RTA co-president Jane Chapin said the schools are in crisis mode and that the district needs to provide more educators in the schools so that students have more people to reach out to when they are in crisis.
Following the RTA press conference last week, Keefe issued a statement regarding student health, safety, and wellbeing.
“Since the start of our new school year, there have been three physical altercations in our schools,” stated Keefe. “Unfortunately, this has given a platform to suggest the City and the School Administration have disregarded faculty and residents’ feedback, calling for a safer and healthier school environment.”
Keefe stated that city and the school district administration take the feedback very seriously, and have been working diligently to make the necessary adjustments at Revere High School.
“Effective immediately, we have inserted a fourth SRO (School Resource Officer) into our school’s environment,” Keefe stated.
In addition, he said the district has housed its Behavioral Health Unit at Revere High School to create better relationships with our student population, and to provide the clinical and social-emotional support it believes can be a root cause of many incidents.?
“We are engaging with other outside resources, such as further partnering with ROCA, and working to equip our staff security personnel with more training regarding conflict resolution and de-escalation tactics,” the mayor added.
As a parent, and someone who has worked with Revere youth and the schools for many years, Keefe said he understands everyone’s concern regarding a safe environment for education and that the city’s goal is to work with everyone who plays a role in children’s education: the faculty and staff, families, public safety, elected officials, and other stakeholders.
“Due to the recent incidents, our district decided to suspend and expel over 12 students,” Keefe stated.
As a consequence of the Sept. 11 incident, two students were emergency removed from Revere High School for disciplinary reasons.
“While our model is to educate, we hear families and staff loud and clear: Students who cause trouble in our schools will be disciplined accordingly, and those who endanger themselves and others will face the highest consequences– no exceptions,” Keefe stated.
The mayor said the city looks forward to working together, listening to its families, faculty, and staff, as it moves forward with proactive approaches to make sure students receive the quality education they deserve.
City Council President Anthony Cogliandro said he wants to keep the conversation going on ways to improve safety and security for students and staff in all of the schools.
Cogliandro said he planned on attending the school committee’s safety and security subcommittee meeting that was scheduled for this Wednesday and has filed a motion for next Monday’s city council meeting for a security update from the schools.
“I’m a unique city councilor because I run a school in this city and I have kids in every single Revere public school,” he said. “My concern is just making sure that they are safe; and it is not so much being reactive as it is being preventative and that is what we are looking to do. I am happy to hear that they are adding a fourth SRO, I am happy to see the agenda items involving hiring a security company, providing panic buttons for the teachers.
“These are the things that are going to save lives, God forbid in the event of something like we had in Georgia, like we’ve had I don’t know how many times over the last so many years.”
Cogliandro said one of the key ingredients moving forward will be to constantly open up conversations and communication with everybody, especially the students.
“I just want to be abundantly clear that my involvement in this has absolutely nothing to do with the contract negotiations, and that seems to be getting roped into it, understandably so,” said Cogliandro.
