Parents Demand Answers After Rival Schools Brawl

A group of parents confronted members of the Rich Township School Board Tuesday night, demanding answers about a brawl between rival schools Rich Central and Rich South on Sept. 30.

Ten students face charges and several were injured after Rich Central students were bused to Rich South following a bomb scare. After somebody pulled the fire alarm, fights broke out between the two schools outside the building. A teacher was also injured to the point where a school official says he thought his life was in danger.

"When we first came out, we thought it was a regular fire drill, but I saw people jumping on cars, running toward each other, and then a big ol' fight," said Rich South student Cassandra Brown, who captured some of the melee on her cell phone.

At Tuesday's special meeting, board members agreed to conduct an independent investigation into the incident, but it didn't stop things from getting heated.

"We accept that the second phase of our process was not equipped to handle the back to back emergencies," school board president Cheryl Coleman said during the meeting.

The policy of moving the students to the other school was reportedly made by the school board over the summer, with assistance from the local police.

"That was a wrong idea. They know we don't like each other," Rich South student Omar Marks said.

Parents hope eventually they'll get the answers they're looking for.

"Once you brought 1,400 children here .. you didn't have a plan for if something happened once they got here," parent Yolanda Williams said.

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