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10/19/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Boonton H.S. deals with flurry of fights
By Rob Seman, Daily Record
BOONTON -- Three fights have broken out within eight days at Boonton High School, spurring discussion between school administrators from Boonton and Lincoln Park, whose students attend the high school.
Lincoln Park superintendent Joyce Valenza said Monday that administrators from Lincoln Park and Boonton are expected to meet this week to discuss how to resolve the problems that have led to the fights, the latest of which occurred Thursday.
The students who allegedly started the fights, all freshmen from Lincoln Park, were charged by Boonton police with aggravated assault and released to their parents.
Valenza said those children, while eighth-graders at Lincoln Park Middle School, had been deemed at-risk students.
"We had worked with them here, but now Boonton has to pick up that slack and we're hoping to help them in our meetings with them," Valenza said.
Valenza said the fights and the reasons behind them were isolated and not gang-related.
"It's kids with short fuses," Valenza said.
Boonton superintendent Mario Cardinale, reached out of his office on Monday, said he did not have information about the reasons behind the fights or the students' dispositions.
"I know we're meeting with Lincoln Park on a number of issues, including discipline," Cardinale said. "I can't comment on that not knowing the students and their histories."
Cardinale could not say what disciplinary action was taken with the students, but said out-of-school suspension is a common penalty for fighting. Other school responses include parent-teacher conferences or referral to law enforcement .
"We typically do suspend students for a physical fight or confrontation," Cardinale said.
"The message this school and, hopefully, every other school is trying to get across is there's a standard of conduct that's expected in the school setting and you need to send the message clearly in terms of consequences, such as suspension," Cardinale said.
The first fight occurred Oct. 6, when police said two 14-year-old boys from Lincoln Park beat up a 14-year-old Boonton boy after one of the Lincoln Park boys elbowed the victim. The Boonton youth suffered a three-inch gash on his forehead, requiring medical attention, and a black eye.
Police returned to the school the next day after two 14-year-old girls from Lincoln Park fought over an incident that occurred the prior weekend. One of the girls punched the other in the face, causing a two-inch cut beneath the victim's eye, requiring stitches.
And on Thursday, a 14-year-old Lincoln Park girl and a 15-year-old Boonton girl fought in a school hallway after they bumped into one another. The fight left the Boonton girl with a lump on her head, requiring medical treatment