Another fight at Brockton High School, one that left a staff member injured, has prompted renewed calls for safety and raised questions about whether or not it is time for the state to take over the school district.
Gov. Maura Healey recently rejected a request from some Brockton School committee members to call in the National Guard to deal with the violence. But since then, there have been more fights at the high school, including the one on Monday that left a teacher hurt.
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Given the ongoing violence and a deficit of more than $18 million, on Tuesday, Healey was asked if she thinks receivership is necessary for Brockton Public Schools.
"This isn't about the state taking over. This isn't about receivership," Healey said. "What this is about is working to make sure that students and educators in Brockton are able to go to school and learn in a safe environment."
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Healey pointed to the public safety audit that the state has given Brockton a grant to complete. Similar to the audit that was done of Boston Public Schools a few years ago, its goal is to make sure the right resources are in the right places.
Healey also said the state's secretary of education, Patrick Tutwiler, was in Brockton on Tuesday to meet with the high school's principal.
She said what's been happening at the high school is disturbing.
"We're going to continue to be in dialogue with Brockton officials," Healey said.
Mildred Lefebvre, the president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said a state takeover is not the solution for any district. She is also a school committee member in Holyoke, one of three districts currently under receivership for chronic underperformance.
"If I can't provide that service, what makes you think someone else can just because they're coming in? That's basically what the state does. They come in and try to fix a problem rather than provide the support a district needs," Lefebvre said.
She said it is also extremely difficult to get out of receivership once the state takes control. Holyoke and the other districts all want it to end.
"There are no benchmarks. The path isn't clear so I don't think it's the answer for Brockton either," Lefebvre said.
At a meeting Tuesday night, the Brockton School Committee voted unanimously on a new cellphone policy, requiring students to put their phones in pouches at the beginning of the day.
The new policy will come into effect when students return from April vacation.
The committee also continued to hear from teachers, parents and students about the problems plaguing the high school.
The fight on Monday appeared to involve two people brawling in a hallway, according to video shared with NBC10 Boston. It wasn't immediately clear from the footage what prompted the fight. The staff member's attempts to break it up could partially be seen in the clip.
A student told NBC10 Boston Monday that fight wasn't the only fight of the day.
