Planned fight at Novato middle school that led to arrests has parents worried
There was outrage and frustration in Novato as parents at Sinaloa Middle School learned new details about a fight that led to several arrests.
Novato Police announced eight arrests were made in connection with the fight at Sinaloa Middle School. Kids ages 12-14 were booked on conspiracy and felony assault charges.
Parents we talked with say they have serious concerns for the safety of their kids at school. All of them asked us to hide their true identities.
Parents like Alicia have first-hand experience with confrontations at Sinaloa Middle School. She said her daughter has been bullied since the first day of school.
"It turned our family upside down," Alicia said. "Absolutely upside down."
The latest incident was just a few weeks ago. Alicia is frustrated that the school hasn't taken further action to protect her daughter. So, she was concerned about how the school handled another fight involving a separate set of students last Thursday.
"They assured us that it was being handled and the children involved were being reprimanded," Alicia said.
But the next day, some of the same students involved in Thursday's fight attacked the same victim.
"From the kids description, it was really scary," Alicia said. "The description was hundreds of kids running to go see this fight."
According to a spokesperson with the Novato Unified School District, the school had no previous knowledge of a potential fight on Friday and the issues of bullying amongst students was unknown to the school staff prior to the incident.
Lisa said her own daughter was attacked by the same girl at the center of Friday's fight and was angry that she hurt another student.
"The school is aware that this girl has been involved in previous problems," Lisa said. "It's not the first time around and there are no consequences. When the thing with my child happened, she was only suspended for a day."
Novato Police said after a thorough investigation, this was more than just another fight and that's why arrests were made.
"The investigation revealed this wasn't an isolated incident and it was a planned incident and that's why this was unusual," said Sgt. Alan Bates with the Novato Police Department.
Many of the parents have kept their child home this week worried about their kids safety. With what happened to Alicia's daughter, keeping her child home is something she contemplates everyday.
"I'm in limbo every morning when I drop my child off at school and fear that this person is going to be there and she's going to attack my daughter," Alicia said.