Sheriff’s deputies are ramping up their presence at High Point High School in Beltsville after some in-school fights led to several arrests and even ended up on YouTube, Prince George’s County Sheriff Melvin High said. “What we have committed to is to finding a solution to the issue there, and so we will have some increased presence at High Point until we can do that,” High said.
The sheriff’s office provides primary law enforcement support to school security.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Sharon Taylor said she couldn’t specify what the increased activity will entail, explaining it “hasn’t been worked out yet.”
Six male and female students, all juveniles, were arrested March 3 at the school when a food fight turned into a brawl, said Yakeisha Hines, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman. A male student was injured in the altercation after being hit in the leg with a chair, Hines said. He was taken to a local hospital.
And in a separate incident, the blog the Real Prince Georges posted what it says is a video of a recent fight between black and Hispanic students at the school.
“We will be reviewing our current security staffing and practices at High Point and making the necessary changes and improvements,” Superintendent William Hite wrote to parents in a letter obtained by The Washington Examiner.
Hite also announced in the letter that the school’s principal, Michael Brooks, has been replaced in light of the recent activity.
“First and foremost, we have made an administrative change at the school,” he wrote. “Mrs. Rebecca Garcia, assistant principal, will be serving as Acting Principal while we conduct a national search for a new administrator.”
