Revere teacher injured breaking up fight at high school, union says "we need help"
REVERE - A fight at Revere High School left an educator injured on Wednesday. It's a headline that we have written before in the past few weeks. Revere Teachers Association (RTA) co-President Michelle Ervin spoke with WBZ about those previous fights, however this one on Wednesday happened right outside her classroom door and left a staff member hurt and bleeding.
"Today was emotional. I was very scared.... Sorry," says Ervin as she began to cry. "I was physically pushing students into rooms and closing the door to get them away from the situation."
Mayor says teacher cut arm on locker
Ervin jumped into action along with several other educators. The RTA says the school principal fell to the floor trying to restrain a student. Another educator, who the teacher's union says is a former police officer, was injured trying to de-escalate the situation. Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe Jr. says there was no weapon involved, and that the teacher cut his arm on a locker during the skirmish.
"Our member who was hurt didn't know he had been hurt until he had seen that he was bleeding," said Ervin.
For months, the RTA has been trying to convince the school district to take action. It was only Monday that the RTA took their safety proposals to the city council. Two councilors showed up to their press conference on Wednesday in solidarity.
Union's claims previously refuted
This incident comes just days after the district proposed their own safety plans and refuted some of the union's claims about what happened in prior incidents by labeling it misinformation.
"It was a fight that is unacceptable, but I think the reason we are here tonight is some of the misinformation that was put out tonight saying that an employee was stabbed. Thankfully, very thankfully, that did not happen, and is not part of the truth," Superintendent Dianne Kelly said at the meeting.
"People are saying that I'm making things up, or that I have this false narrative. I don't have a false narrative. We need help! I don't want another one of my colleagues to bleed when they go to work. I don't want to bleed," said Ervin while first referencing information regarding the previous fights.
Wayne Rose posted videos of Wednesday's fight to social media. He says the clips were sent to him by students who wanted to get the word out, but feared backlash if the school found out they leaked the content.
"To me it's appalling. These kids go to school to learn, and how can you learn in this type of environment," questioned Rose, who has grandchildren in the school district.
Brawls like this have become so common that some students say they are losing count.
"I can confidently go on my phone and say I have more than 10 fight videos. I can confidently say that," said Santo Martell, a junior at Revere High School.
Nine students expelled after previous fights
The school district and mayor's office also spoke on Wednesday saying nine students were expelled from the fights that happened in previous weeks, and 12 students were removed from the school. The 12 students may have the ability to return. Revere Police Chief David Callahan says some students may even face charges from the previous fights.
Mayor Keefe says there will be more disciplinary action and consequences if the fights continue, however students say the discipline isn't making a difference.
"I think we have gotten to a point where people will do bad things, and nothing bad will happen to them, and they think they can just do it again," said Susie Nicholas, a Revere High senior. "Until it gets to a point where something does have to happen, it's like, there were definitely steps in between there that we could have taken to help these kids."
School resource officer to be added
In the coming weeks the district plans to add another school resource officer, but the RTA is proposing a full task force along with other safety measures. Superintendent Kelly would also like to see a curriculum put in place for their advisory program. The curriculum would teach students how to modulate their emotions to not get violent and abusive. They have a similar program already in place at their middle school, but she wants to see it brought high school. She says the district is struggling to get teachers on board with the idea.
The RTA and the district will meet again on Monday as they are in contract negotiations. Safety is expected to be a top priority during those talks.