Fights at Brockton High 'trending downward' — what school police are doing
BROCKTON — Fights among students at Brockton High School are “trending downward” and the state-funded security and safety audit is underway by the Edward Davis Company, said Brockton High Police Officer Jason Mosley Tuesday night.
The team conducting the district-wide safety audit was on the ground at Brockton High School all day on March 12 to review the building’s security and safety status, Brockton High School Principal Kevin McCaskill said at Tuesday’s Brockton School Committee meeting.
Meanwhile, violence in the BHS hallways, which teachers and faculty have described at school committee meetings as early as November, has decreased.
“Fights are still happening, but it seems to be trending downward,” Mosley said. “We’re handling the investigation of each incident and determine if charges should be taken out.”
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Mosley updated the school committee on the high school’s various efforts to curb security and safety issues, after the committee voted to include regular security updates in all future meeting agendas.
Principal McCaskill said at Tuesday’s meeting that the school’s 12 security and safety specialists completed training last week led by Brockton High School police officers. According to Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez, the school’s security specialists previously lacked adequate resources and training to keep the building secure.
The district plans to double the amount of security and safety staff by the start of next school year, increasing the number to 24, said James Cobbs, interim superintendent of Brockton Public Schools. The district will also look to hire a director of security for the district as well as a dedicated faculty member to actively monitor all cameras in the building.
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Cobbs said that Brockton High is working to change 1,400 locks on classroom doors after teachers reported that both school and personal property is sometimes damaged or stolen from empty classrooms, as most teachers don’t have access to keys and classrooms throughout the building remain unlocked.
According to Cobbs, Brockton High will also update all student ID card photos at the beginning of every school year, as most students’ current ID photos are from their 8th grade year.
“We have a plan to make sure those photos are updated every year,” said Cobbs at Tuesday’s meeting.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Fights in Brockton High are 'trending downward' school police say
