Local News

Revere teacher cut breaking up fight, city says knife was not involved

The Revere Teachers Association first claimed the teacher was cut with a knife but later said "he wasn't sure in the moment how (the cut) happened."

The cut arm of a Revere High School staff member after he attempted to break up a fight Wednesday. Revere Teachers Association

By Molly Farrar

September 11, 2024

3 minutes to read

Another educator at Revere High school was injured during a fight Wednesday, just days after staff turned to the City Council for help managing the escalating violence at the school.

The Revere Teachers Association initially said a teacher was “slashed with a knife” during the brawl and shared an image of the teacher’s bleeding arm. City officials, including Mayor Patrick Keefe Jr. and Superintendent Dianne Kelly, held their own press conference to clarify that the teacher cut his arm on a locker while trying to break up a fight between two friends.

“The reason we are here right now tonight is because of some of the misinformation that was put out, saying that an employee was stabbed, which certainly would be horrific to all of us,” Kelly said. “Very thankfully, that did not happen, and that was not part of the truth.”

RTA Co-Presidents Michelle Ervin and Janes Chapin told Boston.com that “the member was injured but in the chaos, he wasn’t sure in the moment how it happened.”

The co-presidents said the situation is still developing, including how many students were involved. The RTA did not say how he was cut.

“I stepped in because it’s the right thing to do. In a previous employment, I worked in de-escalating high stress situations,” the anonymous teacher said in a statement through their union. “Even with that experience and background, I could not de-escalate that fight.”

Nine Revere High students expelled, three removed after “massive brawl”

The fight comes a few weeks after a school administrator was injured during a “massive brawl.” The staff member was hit in the face as they attempted to break up the fight, the union said at the time.

Nine students were permanently expelled due to the fight last month, officials said, and at least 12 students may face criminal charges, Revere Chief of Police David Callahan said.

“That doesn’t make us happy,” he said, “but if that’s the message that has to go out … that’s the message we’re gonna send.”

Keefe said three students were removed from school after last month’s large fight, and two students were removed after Wednesday’s fight.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be permanently removed. There will be disciplinary hearings and and those consequences will be handled,” Keefe said.

Effective immediately, a fourth school resource officer will be placed at the high school, Keefe said Wednesday. He said there was an SRO at the school when the incident occurred.

“We’re balancing that because we know that we don’t want to have this militant force in our school system that’s not going to solve the issue,” Keefe said. “We need to be able to balance that with mental health services and provide students the resources they truly need to get to the root cause.”

Other initiatives implemented in recent years include a behavioral health unit at the high school and more training for security personnel on conflict resolution and deescalation, the city said.

Revere City Council hears from educators union, may add more security

The RTA turned to the City Council Monday for help managing the situation. Union members described hallway fights, classroom disruptions, and a lack of staff including paraprofessionals, social workers, and security guards.

In response, the council sent two measures to a committee for further discussion: a motion to explore hiring a private security company or adding more school resource officers and a motion to consider the price of adding metal detectors to schools.

Kelly acknowledged that knives have been found in the school before, which one teacher pointed out to the council Monday, but the school has always taken “appropriate action.”

“In every one of those cases, another student came forward, told an adult, we checked the backpack, we found the weapon, we spoke to the students in the family,” Kelly said. “We’ve not had an issue, and I hope that we will never have an issue, of a student pulling a weapon or using a weapon on another student or on another adult.”

Keefe said parents and families can attend a health and safety forum on Sept. 24 for “more communication” about any ongoing incidents.