Alderman calling for changes after large fight, arrests at Bay View High School

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police say 30 arrests were made Thursday, October 18th after a fight in the school cafeteria quickly became a brawl at Milwaukee's Bay View High School.

Police say they responded to the school just before 9:00 a.m. Thursday. 22 MPD squad cars and 29 police officers responded to the scene, and the school was placed under "lockdown" for a short time.

Those arrested include eight adults (17-19 years old), 20 juveniles (13-16 years old) and two 11-year-old students. The adults and juveniles arrested received disorderly conduct citations. The 11-year-old students were transported to MPD's District 6 and released to their parents.

Following this fight and the subsequent arrests, both school and city officials spoke about changes they want to see, and they say they want to see these changes in place soon.

"This school right now is not a safe school. The residents and the neighbors have been telling us this, and what happened today merely dramatized what`s happened at this school on a regular basis," Alderman Tony Zielinski said.

Zielinski is calling for MPS administration to address safety issues at Bay View High School. Zielinski and concerned residents say there's been a pattern of disorderly student behavior that has spilled into the community.

"Pretty much since the first day of school children are in the parks during the entire school day. There`s vandalism, and it's beyond just ditching school. There`s disrespect to property vandalism, graffiti and drug use," Zielinski said.

Bay View High School is MPS' school with the second-highest rate of bused students, and some neighbors feel there is a disconnect when students aren't from the neighborhood, and don't take ownership of their actions. Zielinski says he believes many of the problems come from habitual offenders.

"The school has not adequately dealt with those habitual behavioral issues, and what we need to do is have a mechanism in place that there's accountability and consequences to students that don`t get with the program," Zielinski said.

Zielinski says he has ideas for MPS' administration.

"We set up a special school for kids that are causing problems in the neighborhood. We need to put them in a school where we can get them the type of help they need that they`re not getting now," Zielinski said.

MPS spokesperson Tony Tagliavia also told FOX6 News: "We know that the inexcusable actions of some do not represent the more than 1,000 students of the school."

A group of parents and a school board member told FOX6 News they have been working on a plan to turn the neighborhood around, change curriculum at the school and making the school more of a neighborhood school.

Police say there were no serious injuries reported as a result of this incident, however, one child was treated for an asthma attack. A Milwaukee Public Schools spokesperson says a school safety aide fell while responding to the fight.

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