Posted on 09/12/2002 8:28:18 AM PDT by gulfwarvet
School officials fielded anxious phone calls from parents Wednesday, one day after a fight between a Somali student and another teenager broke out at Lewiston High School and turned into an afternoon melee off school grounds.
“What we’re trying to do now is assure parents that we have a very safe school,” said Principal Patrick O’Neill.
Record-setting heat and community friction have caused tensions to rise recently in the 1,250-student high school, officials acknowledged. But, said Superintendent Leon Levesque, “The school has been very calm.”
On Wednesday, disruptions to the school came not from fights but from rampant rumors about weapons and further fights following Tuesday’s brawl near Marcotte Park, in which police arrested two men, neither of whom was a Lewiston High School student.
“It’s completely consumed our day,” said Levesque.
Lewiston police patrolled the area around the high school after school let out Wednesday afternoon. There were no fights.
“Everything was very peaceful and smooth,” said the school system’s Somali community liaison, Mohammed Abdi. He expected similar patrols to continue through the week.
As scheduled, Lewiston High School students will spend this week talking about Sept. 11, its aftermath and effect on Americans’ attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants. No special assemblies or events were planned to address Tuesday’s incident.
According to O’Neill, the confrontation started when a teenager who did not attend Lewiston High School followed a Somali student into the school’s lobby and taunted him. O’Neill said he interceded as the argument became physical and the Somali boy tried to restrain the other teen.
As is school policy, O’Neill suspended the Somali student for three days for his part in the fight. He told the other teenager to leave school property or he would be arrested.
According to police, the high school fight generated a large brawl at 2 p.m. near Marcotte Park. That one involved more than four dozen people.
Levesque said the high school has worked hard to combat rumors and to ease racial tensions there since Somali immigrants began moving into the city a year-and-a-half ago. But friction within the community has begun to cause renewed tension within the school.
While Levesque couldn’t predict whether such friction would lead to more battles at or around Lewiston High School, he hoped to see community leaders identify the issues causing the most contention and come up with resolutions soon.
“I think probably we need to look at this from a community perspective,” he said.
I'm not, plus Mrs. CD would probably open a can of whoop-a$$ on me if I did call her.
BTW, my ex is a psychiatric nurse... a good job for her.
CD
I'm afraid this is policy in some schools.....even if a student did not start a fight, he is still suspended for "his part" in it.I wonder how many states have laws codifying the right to self defense? In those that do, these policies could be taken to court and overturned, IMO.
In my high school this policy would have caused the "dirtbags" to intentionally start fights with the jocks and college prep kids, especially if they were black. The 'bags didn't really care if they got suspended.
-Eric
Yep. This is the important lesson of 9-11: How is made Muslims feel.
You saying it wasn't?
...OR (!!) he would be arrested??? Why wasn't he arrested on the spot?
It looks like they are now getting unwanted notice.
Neal Boortz on WSBS, my AM listening choice. Reverse carpetbagging, I love it!
It's not Neal's fault all those bleeding heart leftists in New England like to give big welfare checks, the Yankees brought the welfare bum Somali influx on themselves.
Some good-hearted people in Lewiston were even giving these people "care packages" thinking they had just come from Somolia.
Heck, if they found nail clippers on him he'd have been expelled. School officials aren't authorized to use their judgement on these things anymore. The punishments are automatic.
You are to take your beating, or bullet, while pleading "please don't hurt me".
What did the school system's AMERICAN community liaison have to say?
Thank you Bill Clinton.
When deep-frying chicken, every well-trained chef knows that the pan shouldn't be more than one-third full of hot oil when you add the first piece of chicken, because otherwise the volume of the oil is going to expand rapidly as you add the chicken and you're going to have a fire. Then you'll have to start over, maybe even start over re-building your house.
So said Emeril the other day . . . BAM!
So along comes that dumb hick, Bill Clinton, and his even dumber sidekicks, and they proceed to fill the pot clear full of hot oil right up to the brim and then dump a five-gallon bucket of chicken into it. "Why, shoot, city slicker, it's just like boiling roadkill, ain't it? 'Cept we're using grease."
Thanks, RATS.
Now GET OUT OF OUR KITCHEN!
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