HOUSTON – From shoving matches to all out brawls, fights happen on almost every school campus. Channel 2 Investigates looked at instances of fighting at every school in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston counties during the 2013-14 school year.
Schools are required to report disciplinary problems and criminal acts to the Texas Education Agency every year. In reviewing the TEA's database, middle schools had the highest number of fights on campus. There were 5,474 fights reported at middle schools during one school year -- double the 2,722 fights reported at high schools and nearly four times higher than the 1,418 fights reported at elementary schools.
"This is the age of raging hormones. It's not an age where there's a lot of common sense," said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. "It is the toughest set of grades to teach."
Out of all the schools in Harris and the four surrounding counties, Klein Intermediate had the third highest number of fights. There were 155 fights involving 142 students reported at the campus in a single school year. Bammel Middle School in the Spring Independent School District had the second highest number of fights. State records show 160 fights involving 213 students were reported at that campus.
The school with the highest number of fights was Forest Brook Middle School in the Houston Independent School District. TEA records show 174 fights involving 264 students were reported at the campus during the 2013-14 school year, an increase over the two prior school years, when the campus reported only 11 and 20 fights respectively.
HISD took over operation of the campus during the 2013-14 school year after the state shut down the embattled North Forest Independent School District.
"I think we've got a very violent school over there that we had better get under control," said Fallon.
HISD officials said teachers are now being trained on proactive intervention, or stopping arguments before they boil over. HISD also instituted a reward program for good behavior.
Spring ISD officials called the number of fights at Bammel disappointing but told Channel 2 arrival and dismissal times are now staggered to decrease the number of kids in the hallways and increase the amount of adult supervision. Good behavior is also publicly rewarded and a mentoring program is in the works.
Klein ISD officials blamed the high number of fights on data entry mistakes. After Channel 2 questioned the number of fights reported to the state, Klein officials noted they discovered, over the past two school years, the district was not properly "linking" the number of fights with the number of students.
Klein officials did note a student group that promotes positive behavior is in place on campus, along with an increase in adult supervision in the halls. Klein officials also wrote most of the fights are minor shoving matches that are stopped before they escalate.
Fallon contends all these steps are positive, but adds that students caught fighting on campus must also face strict consequences.
"Kids understand consequences and when there are none, then why shouldn't they take a swing at someone if they feel like it," said Fallon.
You can search infraction/crime data provided by the schools by clicking here. If you do a quick key word search for a school's name it will take you to straight to the information for that campus. Also, in the reported number of incidents column there are quite a few "-99." State law only requires schools to report 5 or more instances of a particular infraction/crime. Therefore, when you see "-99" that means there were only between 1 and 4 instances of that particular infraction/crime reported on that campus for that school year.
Here is HISD's full response to the number of fights reported at Forest Brook:
HISD cannot speak to Forest Brook Middle School data reported prior to 2013-2014 school year, which is when HISD acquired the school. However, we can tell you a little about the difference we've seen since taking over.
Since HISD acquired Forest Brook Middle School, the school has focused on proactive and positive interventions. School staff have participated in training sessions focused on school culture and climate. Administrators also have implemented Barks Bucks, a program that rewards students for good behavior and academic improvement by providing them with coupons they can exchange for school supplies and other items. As you can see by the numbers below, these efforts are making a difference.
Below are year-to-date stats on attendance and disciplinary actions at Forest Brook.
Attendance Rates
2013-2014 First Semester: 90.91%
2014-2015 First Semester: 94.04%
(Attendance has increased by almost four percent)
Referrals to DAEP (Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs)
2013-2014 First Semester: 36 referrals
2014-2015 First Semester: 15 referrals
(Referrals are down by half)
Here is Spring ISD's full response to reported fights at Bammel Middle School:
The ranking listed for Bammel Middle School is disappointing, however, second-year Principal Dr. HP Hyder and his administrative team have made significant strides in reducing the number of discipline-based concerns facing the 1,300-student campus.
To address discipline concerns, a committee of school administrators, parents, students and district staff reviewed school processes and practices to ensure student safety and security is a priority. School arrival and dismissal periods were altered so that the number of students in hallways decreased and the number of visible adults increased. Additionally, teachers and staff members are assigned duty posts throughout the building during high traffic times such as class transition and before and after school. While monitoring the halls, they also reward students for positive behavior through immediate acknowledgement. Students who are "caught" exceeding expectations are publicly acknowledged via the loud speaker, invited to special celebrations or allowed to participate in special events. Parent engagement and interaction have also increased.
Considering the decrease in fights after implementing the procedures mentioned above, the school administration has continued to amend their systems for the current school year. They are also developing a student advisory group that will share their feedback on campus issues including the dress code, discipline and other campus improvements. A mentoring program is also planned.
Here is Klein ISD's full response to the number of fights reported at Klein Intermediate:
1. Why do you think this is occurring?
Middle school is a very intense time of emotional change and we recognize that some students have difficulty as they make the transition from elementary to middle school. Teachers, administrators and staff encourage students to talk with adults prior to acting out of emotion. However, on some occasions students will act out of emotion that may result in conflict. In more than 90% of these conflicts, as we talk through the situation with the individual students, they begin to realize that the issue wasn't really that big of a deal. Klein Intermediate reports they have very few repeat incidents of conflict after talking with students.
2. Are these actual/true incidents of fighting? Meaning, are these minor infractions (hair pulling, pats, etc.) or mutual combats?
In reviewing 2013-2014 discipline data, it was discovered that the student incidents of fighting were not linked together. In other words, each of the students involved in the conflict were entered separately resulting in double the number of actual altercations. For PEIMS purposes, altercations should be recorded for each student individually and then linked so that each altercation is counted as one incident. Therefore during the 2013-2014 discipline data the 155 students that were involved in some type of physical altercation accounted for at most 77 altercations. All staff associated with data input have now been trained on the proper procedures for coding these incidents and additional training is being provided this spring. The vast majority of "fighting" incidents are minor pushing and shoving that is stopped before it escalates. Principal Bob Anderson indicates that it is a rare occasion, less than 20 a year, that there is actual fight on campus. When this does occur, the students are addressed quickly receiving serious consequences for their participation as outlined in the student code of conduct.
3. What steps are being taken to solve this issue?
The Klein Intermediate School administration and staff are always striving to improve every aspect of student life whether it is academics, character development or student conduct. Current steps taking place to address student conduct in order to develop young citizens of good character include:
* An active student No Place for Hate group that aggressively promotes positive behaviors on campus
* An inclusion policy by the campus principal so that parents have immediate access via email or phone to share concerns thus creating a partnership that is proactively addressing situations before they occur
* Implementation of one-way hallways to prevent students from congregating during passing periods
* Increased staff presence in the hallway during all passing periods
* Active student monitoring by the staff every day at dismissal
* Connections in the community where the principal and parent liaison complete two parent home visits each week for students with discipline concerns
* Counseling sessions once an incident occurs where the school counselor meets with students to provide coping skills in order to prevent repeat incidents
* Recognition each six weeks of 75 Star Students that exhibit positive behaviors on campus
* Weekly distribution of positive postcards by every teacher recognizing a student for being outstanding
* Professional development training for all Klein Intermediate teachers in the Capturing Kids Hearts philosophy to create positive, productive and trusting relationships with students
* Classroom management training for all Klein Intermediate teachers throughout the year