After brawl at St. Louis Park High, school leaders hear parents’ worries

Several St. Louis Park parents called for a zero-tolerance policy on violence during a school board meeting Tuesday in response to a fight in the halls that extended to the parking lot, drawing in more students and adults before school staff and police intervened.

The melees last Thursday afternoon led to the closure of school on Friday.

Parent Caitlin Serrano said she worried the schools are not taking violence seriously enough. She said she was not happy with how the district handled a fight between students that happened at a party after prom last year. She hoped students involved would be punished but, Serrano said, “nothing happened at school.”

Interim superintendent Kate Maguire said those involved in the brawls last week will be punished.

“We have taken swift and decisive action with each participant in the events from last week,” Maguire said, ranging from one-day dismissals to expulsion.

School staff and a St. Louis Park police officer intervened in the fight, and Maguire said two adults were arrested.

No one was seriously injured, Maguire said, and there is no evidence anyone had weapons.

But she wanted to focus on engaging students, a problem faced by districts across the country after the pandemic, rather than creating harsher discipline and adding police.

“Without effective teaching that keeps students engaged, no amount of suspensions, no amount of police officers and no amount of administrators can help our community thrive,” Maguire said during a school board meeting Tuesday evening.

Rachel Hicks, a school district spokesperson, said the high school was closed Friday not because of any additional danger, but to give administrators time to work through a large disciplinary investigation, and to figure out a plan to keep students more secure during final exams this week.

This week, Maguire said, high schoolers will not be allowed to leave campus for lunch, and will have less time to pass between classes. She said there will be a greater police presence in schools this week.

St. Louis Park police pulled officers out of schools in August, instead stationing officers in nearby neighborhoods.

Maguire, who leads the district on an interim basis, said she has seen similar problems elsewhere as schools struggle to help students with their mental health and reengage after the pandemic.

“This is a challenge faced by high schools across our state and nation,” she said.