Southampton School District officials will meet with parents on Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Southampton High School cafeteria to discuss recent incidents at the high school, including fighting among students and a recent threat of violence targeting the school that has been dismissed as “unfounded” by police.
High School Principal Timothy Mundell, Ed.D., said the purpose of the meeting is to address parents’ concerns over recent events and to share appropriate information so that everyone is on the same page.
Late last week, two Southampton High School senior girls were arrested by Southampton Village Police and accused of attacking a freshman girl on the football field during a fire drill last Thursday, October 14, Detective Sergeant Herman Lamison said. The seniors, both 17-year-olds, were each charged with assault in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, and harassment in the second degree, a violation. The 14-year-old victim, who was treated for her injuries at Southampton Hospital and released, was issued an order of protection, according to Det. Sgt. Lamison, who said police believe the fight took place over a boy and that tensions had escalated over the weeks leading up to the fight.
Also last week, in an unrelated incident, Dr. Mundell and Village Police received an anonymous call from a parent who said his ninth grade son had told him that a former student planned an act of violence at the school, according to police reports. Several students reported receiving text messages stating that an incident would take place on Tuesday, October 19, according to police.
Det. Sgt. Lamison said police investigated the incident and concluded Monday that the allegations were “unfounded and unsubstantiated to any credible sources of information.”
He said police have stepped up their presence at the school in recent days, but he does not believe parents or students should be concerned. “I don’t feel that there is any concern, for a parent not to send their child to school tomorrow, or any other day, for that matter,” he said.
Dr. Mundell, meanwhile, said on Monday that it is “absolutely” safe for students to attend school on Tuesday. “I’m confident that whatever rumors are out there are baseless,” he said, declining to elaborate.
Colleen Reynolds on Oct 21, 2010