TAYLOR, Mich. – While fights can and do break out in schools, the number of fights that broke out at Taylor High School has parents and police worried.
Videos posted on social media captured multiple fights at the school.
“I’m scared for my kids to go to school,” said one mother.
Staff members attempted to break up the fights only to get hit repeatedly as they tried.
Police said there were four fights on Monday, Oct. 9, two on Tuesday, Oct. 10, and one on Wednesday, Oct. 11. They also arrested a girl who reportedly used pepper spray on a number of people.
“It’s terrible,” the mother said. “Innocent bystanders are suffering because of other people’s fights.”
Taylor Police Cpl. David Denlar is the only school resource officer for the Taylor School District, which serves 1,600 students across Taylor and parts of Brownstown, Dearborn Heights, Inkster and Westland. He said the high school has security staff and will be extra police patrols, but the fights explode and are out of control.
“There are a lot of people present, but we are outnumbered,” Denlar said.
Michael Wegher, the interim superintendent at Taylor Schools released the following statement to Local 4:
“We understand the importance of maintaining a safe school environment where students can focus on learning, and we encourage everyone in our district to notify our administration when they hear of anything that jeopardizes that.”
Interim Superintendent Michael Wegher
Police said the fights brew on social media and when people get to school, they fight about what was said online.
The district said they have programs in place for students to gain coping skillssafe school and ways for students to report the threat of violence.
