DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Parents in DeKalb County are expressing concern over frequent fights at multiple high schools, including a recent incident at Cedar Grove High School involving a principal allegedly putting a student in a chokehold.
Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandez reported live on Channel 2 Action News at 4:00 that when she was at the school Tuesday, students said off camera that they are afraid to go to class and they are concerned about safety.
And now parents want to know how teachers and staff are supposed to respond to these fights at school.
Channel 2 Action News blurred the video to protect the identities of minors fighting at Cedar Grove High School. Administrators discourage students from recording these fights, but they still do it.
One parent, Melinda Barber, said she is happy this fight was recorded because she said it proves her daughter was telling the truth when she accused the school principal of putting her in a chokehold while trying to break up this fight.
“Once I saw the video, I called the police to report it - who gave me - transferred me over to the school police,” she said.
She said school police and an area superintendent told her it wasn’t the principal’s intention to have his arms around her daughter’s neck.
“If it wasn’t his intentions, instead of him, you know, fabricating and saying that he didn’t put his arms around her neck, he would’ve just told me the truth,” Barber said.
When Fernandes went on the district’s website, she couldn’t find any policy stating what teachers and administrators are supposed to do when students are fighting, only how to verbally de-escalate fights.
She asked a district spokesperson for a copy of the policy.
“They’re saying he’s wrong in so many ways, but then they’re still taking up for him,” Barber said.
Fernandes is still waiting for district officials to tell her exactly what teachers and administrators are supposed to do when they see multiple students fighting.
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