What's really going on inside Brockton High School?
BROCKTON - It takes a student at Brockton High School at least five minutes to get through the door before the school bell rings. They have to wait in line outside the door before removing their laptop from their bag, holding it over their head, and walking through a metal detector.
If it beeps, they have to adjust and go through again.
Next, an administrator scans their student ID and checks to make sure the picture and the person show the same student about to enter the halls.
These are some of the security measures put in place in recent years at Massachusetts' largest high school, but they haven't been enough to stop a culture of student violence from forming inside the halls.
"Brockton High is not just fights," Dr. Jim Cobbs, acting superintendent, told WBZ-TV. "That's not all that goes on every day."
Concern about fights inside the high school escalated last month when four members of the school committee wrote a letter to Governor Maura Healey last month requesting the National Guard come to the school to help with staffing shortages. "Our high school has experienced a disturbing increase in incidents related to violence," the letter read. "Instances of students wandering the halls, engaging in altercations, and causing disruptions in classrooms have become alarmingly frequent."
When that letter later became national news, Governor Healey denied the request and those who wrote it explained why. "The letter that was sent to the governor was not a stunt," said school committee member Joyce Asack in an early March meeting. "We heard our teachers. We heard our students. I don't know about you guys, but there's many sleepless nights."
Brockton High School administrators, students, and teachers tell WBZ they were frustrated by the perspective that the high school is a dangerous place and that fights occur daily. As a result, they allowed WBZ cameras inside Brockton High for two days to witness the challenges – and successes – the school is experiencing on a daily basis.
Administration turnover & budget issues
A recent audit revealed that Brockton Public Schools finished fiscal year 2023 with a more than $18 million budget deficit. Now, the district is on track to finish fiscal year 2024 with a $19 to $25 million deficit, with fiscal year 2025 projected at a $7 to $19 million deficit if the district doesn't find a way to balance its books soon.
"Like with any of the challenges facing our city and our schools, there's no one-size-fits-all solution," Acting Superintendent Cobbs said. "However, this report provides us with critical insight into where we've gone wrong and a roadmap for improving our processes. It also affords us the opportunity to identify strategic spending reductions we can make in the short term to avoid a dramatic deficit this fiscal year while ensuring that students do not suffer as a result of these fiscal challenges."
Staff shortages
The Brockton School District has not been shy about how a lack of staffing has contributed to a rocky school year. As a result of the budget issues, 113 teachers in the district were laid off after last school year. Now, the district can't fill open positions. At the time of this report, 69 open positions were listed online for Brockton High School alone.
"Finding teachers is a challenge, especially now," said Deputy Superintendent Sharon Wolder. "It's a challenge everywhere," added Superintendent Cobbs. "Historically though, Brockton has had great success because of our pay scale. It's an attractive system to work in based on income."
Teacher absent without a substitute
The result of a lack of teachers is that on a daily basis, there are not enough to fill classrooms. Each day, student representative Anthony Veiga reads off a list of teachers absent without a substitute. On one day we witnessed, the list was 16 teachers long.
Students who would otherwise be in those classes learning are instead sent to their respective cafeterias for homework time supervised by one teacher on duty. On the day we visited, that teacher was 24-year-old Angela Girodier, also a Brockton High graduate form 2018. "It's a lot because it's a lot of kids sometimes, especially if there's a long list," she explained. "But we try our best to just make sure everyone's sitting and doing what they're supposed to."
Clearing the halls
The reason having kids in the cafeteria supervised is so important for the school is because while violence doesn't break out every minute, when it does, it happens in the crowded halls, or empty halls when kids are unsupervised.
New Brockton High Principal Kevin McCaskill does daily rounds around the school, and is constantly asking students to show their IDs, get into classrooms, or clear the halls quickly to avoid any chaos.
The school is taking a number of measures to avoid situations where students could be idling in empty classrooms or halls, including by ordering 1400 new locks that will make empty classrooms inaccessible. Plus, the school plans to double the number of security personnel in the next year and has put teachers through security training.
Reacting to fights quickly
When fights break out, teachers react instantly. Miss Girodier told WBZ about a time she witnessed and intervened in a fight at track practice. "These are students, like these are our athletes, so we came in and got our hands involved, which I hesitate to do [because] I'm tiny," she said. "I really don't want to get hurt which I know has happened. Like a lot of our staff has gotten hurt from putting themselves in front for their students, to protect their students."
Often, fights are stopped as quickly as they start. Brockton High currently has 3,700 students (note – they've lost about 800 students in the last few years), making it the largest public school in Massachusetts. That can be both a blessing and a curse.
"Honestly proportionally, I think we have the exact same issues that any high school any place anywhere has, but we have more people," Senior Giana LaMarre explained. "So, if you look at it, it seems worse than it is, but it's not. You have 4000 kids in one space."
When fights break out, they can often be broken up before many more students know they've started – that is, until they're shared on social media.
Locking up the phones
Administrators and many students tell WBZ they believe the perception of nonstop fighting comes largely because fights that do occurr are repeatedly shared all over social media. "It feels worse because I could see the same video clip of the same fight 15 times and if I saw it yesterday and a week later, I'm seeing that same clip," explained Deputy Superintendent Wolder.
"It's really not this violent or horrible place it's made out to be," added Senior Anthony Veiga, who represents the student body at school committee meetings. "I've heard people say the most dangerous school in America – that's completely untrue. I've never felt unsafe or like unwelcome coming into this building. In my four years, I've never seen a fight in person. Snapchat is a different story," he said.
To combat the cell phone issue, the school is ordering Yondr pouches, which disable phones. A recently drafted cell phone policy reads, "Cell phones, earbuds, and headphones are not to be used during the school day. Additional devices also prohibited under this policy include gaming and other streaming devices."
Students will face tiered punishment if their phones are not locked up in their pouches during class, ranging from a verbal warning to in-school suspension.
Students lack consistency
"These kids respond well to consistency," Miss Girodier told WBZ. Consistency, however, is something they've been lacking.
When the budget deficit came to light in spring 2023, then Superintendent and Brockton High Principal Michael Thomas went on medical leave. In the interim, an acting Superintendent was named, administration was restructured at the high school, and a new principal was hired seven weeks into the school year.
"We started a step and a half behind," Dr. Cobbs explained. "We are probably a half a step behind at this point."
There is a common thread that unites many people in the administration and who teach at Brockton High: they graduated from here. "I love this school so dearly," said Bonnie Brady, the Associate Principal of Academics. She is one of several leaders who graduated from Brockton High.
Administrators are asking for patience as they work to cement their place in leading the school. "We need people to be patient while we are trying to develop systems that are going to support the children," said Associate Principal of School Climate and Culture Nicole McLaren.
"The administration team here, we are going to grind all summer and make sure that we have some policies and procedures, implemented and ready to go for day one, and I fully anticipate that next year we will start much smoother than this year did," said Rachael Umbrianna, another Associate Principal of Academics.
Great things are happening at Brockton High
Ask the kids in the halls: what do you think about Brockton High?
"I want them to know that not everybody is a crazy person who likes violence," said Yanckiel DeLeon.
"You get out of it what you put into it," said Junior Ruby Watt. "So, if you're coming to the school and looking for problems, then you are going to find what you're looking for."
"I think Brockton High is an amazing school," said one student WBZ passed in the halls. "The bad side gets out too much, we got to spread the good side of it."
Students were eager to share their successes: the drama club making it to states, taking early college courses, the nursing program, you name it.
"There are great things happening at Brockton High School," said teacher Luis Gomes.
The takeaway
As a massive, urban high school, Brockton definitely has its challenges, and there are several security steps in place right now and being developed to improve the school, including a safety audit overseen by former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis expected to finish up in June.
Fights happen – often. Kids see those fights because they're instantly shared on social media. With more staff – a problem the school doesn't necessarily have a firm plan to solve – more supervision will help fix this problem.
Still, there are so many kids who are proud of their school, proud of their work, and actively joining forces with administrators to suggest improvements. "We have days where some students come in and it's the toughest day they've had in a long time, and other students having the best day they've ever had," said Deputy Superintendent Wolder.