SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An all out melee was caught on camera at Kennedy High School, prompting safety concerns during a time in which the Sacramento City Unified School District decided to reduce the number of police officers on campus.
District spokesperson Alex Barrios, said there have been as many as 12 fights already this year at Kennedy, but insists the increase in campus fights does not stem from the low number of school resource officers in the district.
"There's no evidence to show a school resource officer being on campus stopped fights because we had just as many fights last year," Barrios said. "They were just as big, and they were on video."
Talking specifically about Kennedy, Barrios said, "We know that there are fights on campus. What we need to do is make sure we are preventing those fights from happening."
In an email to school parents, Kennedy HS principal David Van Natten announced plans to stagger the lunch schedule and bring in additional staff to supervise students in an effort to cut down on fighting.
So, what is going on when it comes to school security? Some blame the district's decision to reduce school resource officers from eight to four. Despite having $1.4 million dollars set aside for school safety, ABC10 was told three of those four school resource officers have not been hired.
"We are going through a process to get the contracts finalized for that," Barrios said. "They'll be approved by our board hopefully at the next board meeting."
The district had a packed agenda last meeting. ABC10's cameras were rolling as the school district announced it's facing a $27 million budget shortfall and that layoffs are on the table.
"Layoffs are definitely a possibility, because they happened last year, and they are always a possibility when you're in a budget hole," Barrios said about the potential impacts of the district's budget issues.
"What ended up happening last year was enough money was saved to avoid a state takeover temporarily, but the problem was not solved. The only way we solve that problem is by spending as much as we take in. We still haven't solved that problem."
As for those fights, the district insists the budget challenges aren't impacting safety when it comes to decisions on things like schools resource officers.
"Those are two separate issues, and the money is there for school safety," Barrios said.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Chris Thomas.
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