Revere High School teacher cut during fight in hallway
WCVB, VIEWER HANDOUT, CNN
By Peter Eliopoulos and Phil Tenser
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REVERE, Massachusetts (WCVB) — For at least the second time during this new school year, a Revere High School staff member was hurt on Wednesday during a fight among students.
The teacher’s arm was bloodied Wednesday morning after being scratched on a locker while they tried to intervene in a fight, according to Revere Public Schools. The superintendent declined to provide additional details.
Revere police said in a statement that no weapons were involved in the fight.
Students who witnessed the incident said the altercation escalated quickly.
“They were pushing each other at first, and they were arguing and yelling,” sophomore Dina Elfathy said.
Michelle Ervin, co-president of the union, tearfully recalled the fear she felt during the incident.
“I was very scared,” Ervin said. “I don’t know if I was scared for myself, but I was definitely just scared. After it all happened, I was angry that this is still happening.”
This latest altercation follows another violent event during the first week of school, where the assistant principal was taken to the hospital after being injured in a fight that resulted in the expulsion of 12 students.
Some students at the high school said they are becoming desensitized to the frequent disruptions.
“I was kind of not even shocked by it because of how many fights have been happening lately,” one student said.
Junior Santo Martell said the ongoing violence is wearing on him. “I love this building with my heart and soul, but when it gets like this, I really don’t want to be here anymore,” Martell said. “I’d rather be home.”
Revere’s mayor, the school superintendent and the police chief announcing new changes, including conflict training for teachers, additional mental and emotional health resources for students and an additional resource officer.
“There’s no one in our entire district administration that doesn’t want to have the healthiest, happiest, and safest schools,” Revere mayor Patrick Keefe said Thursday.
Some parents say it’s not enough.
“Those are good steps, but bringing in one person is not going to solve the problem,” Tim Watson said. ” How are they going to get from one end to the other when there’s a fight on both ends?”
Teachers went to a Revere City Council meeting on Monday to demand action on safety and funding issues.
Members of the Revere Teachers Association have said the district requires investment in multilingual social workers, reasonable caseloads, and an incident reporting system.
Teachers in Revere are working without a contract amid ongoing negotiations with the city.
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