McKinley High School will stay remote through the end of the February break following last week’s violence that hospitalized a student and security guard. Meanwhile, Wednesday night’s Buffalo Public Schools Board of Education meeting stressed the violence is not limited to McKinley.
District officials announced during the meeting that McKinley would continue remote learning Thursday and Friday prior to the start of February break next week. Seniors will return Feb. 28, juniors will return March 1, and sophomores and freshmen will return March 2.
That will give new principal Moustafa Khalil, who was appointed the day of the violence, as well as security guards and social workers a chance to prepare a new safety plan and make more changes.
The school is struggling to cope with the fallout from the Feb. 9 incident, which has been described as a large brawl in the school parking lot. A 14-year-old male student was stabbed multiple times and a 27-year-old school security guard was shot in the leg. About 100 students inside the building for after-school activities had to wait several hours to be released to their parents while a SWAT team cleared the building.
Buffalo Police have arrested two 17-year-old male students in connection to the violence and are running an active investigation looking for more people who were involved in the brawl.
While the incident dominated the long board meeting Wednesday night at Waterfront Elementary School, speakers during the meeting made it clear McKinley's problems are not singular.
Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash told the board there were nine incidents Tuesday rated as very serious in the district’s reporting system, including the beating of a Bennett High School student just up the street from the school building.
Riverside High School teacher Marc Bruno told the board that two armed non-students tried to enter his building with a knife on Feb. 2.
“The same day as the McKinley shooting and stabbing, we had a huge brawl at dismissal inside of the school building,” he added.
Melissa Archer asked the school board about the effect on student achievement.
“How are the children supposed to learn and thrive in this environment? How are the parents supposed to feel assured that when their kids are dropped off that they won't be traumatized in school? How are staff supposed to teach, feed, clean for our children in this type of environment?” she said. “In the triad of children, parents and faculty, the child has the least power in control of the environment at home and school. However, they suffer the most.”
Longtime anti-violence leader Pastor James Giles’ Back to Basics Ministry is being hired by the school district for $275,000 to provide security around some city schools and a couple intersections where students from more than one school can run into each other and potentially fight.
“We have developed a very comprehensive program to address this issue and the superintendent was magnanimous enough and urgent enough to make it city-wide,” Giles said. “Not just McKinley but I-Prep and MST and Burgard and Emerson and Riverside and South Park. All of these schools are impacted by some of this.”
The board also continued its fight over what to do about chaotic problems with its bus system. After a contentious debate, the board voted to continue a tangled process which might eventually pay parents to drive their kids to school.
Cash warned supportive board members it might take a while since his top staffers are working to deal with the McKinley situation and violence in other buildings.
McKinley High School dominated the Buffalo school board meeting last night in Waterfront School. The meeting was a week after a violent incident outside McKinley which left two-students in custody on felony charges, a student recovering from multiple stabbings and a security guard healing from a gunshot wound.
Long time anti-violence leader Pastor James Giles of Peacemakers says it's not limited to McKinley, citing the savage beating of a Bennett student yesterday near the school. Giles told the school board his Back to Basics Ministry has a plan to deal with some of the violence.
“We have developed a very comprehensive program to address this issue and the superintendent was magnanimous enough and urgent enought to make it city-wide. Not just McKinley but I-Prep and MST and Burgard and Emerson and Riverside and South Park. All of these schools are impacted by some of this.”
The problems at McKinley were serious enough that the school district decided to keep the school on virtual learning today and tomorrow instead of reopening for the last two-days before a week's vacation.
The school had a new principal appointed the day of the violence, with more security coming in, more social workers being added to the staff and with police running an active investigation looking for more people who were involved in the McKinley brawl.
With only two-days remaining before a week's vacation, Buffalo schools leaders decided to keep McKinley High Schools students on virtual learning today and tomorrow and start bringing them back with the seniors February 28. Mike Desmond reports.
Pastor James Giles from Peacemakers says a Bennett student was very badly beaten yesterday, just up the street from the high school. His Back to Basics Ministry is being hired by the school district for $275,000 dollars to provide security around some city schools and around a couple of intersections where students from more than one school can run into each other and potentially fight.
Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash told the board there were nine-incidents yesterday rated as very serious in the reporting system.
