Dwayne Springs is one of dozens of Waukegan High School parents who are angrily questioning whether there is more violence on the school’s Brookside campus than parents have been made aware of.
The concern comes after a bloody stabbing inside of a classroom at the school’s campus for freshmen and sophomores Wednesday afternoon.
“What I’m scared of, is this the tip of the iceberg?” he asked. “What else are we missing?”
According to school officials, the incident began as three students having a fight and ended with two sustaining injuries. One of the students suffered a laceration, and the other was treated for back pain.
Springs said he received a frantic text from her daughter after the stabbing.
“She said ‘dad, a girl got stabbed at school. Dad, I can smell the blood,’” he said. “That is the text my daughter sends me.”
The stabbing is similar to another incident that occurred at the school’s Washington campus, which houses juniors and seniors. In that incident, a student was stabbed with a sharp object in a third floor classroom.
Local
Community activist Margaret Carrasco criticized the administration’s handling of the incidents.
“This was worse, because this was inside of the classroom during the school day. How could that be?” she asked.
Waukegan police are investigating the incident, and have identified everyone involved, but there have been no arrests made.
School officials are trying to urge parents and students to remain calm, and say they are doing everything they can to investigate the incidents and to prevent more from occurring in the future.
“We know an incident like this can be disturbing,” the school said in a statement. “We absolutely will not tolerate physical violence in our schools. Any student who is involved in these types of incidents will face consequences in accordance with District policy and state law.”
Some parents say those actions aren’t enough, and are demanding that the school beef up security as the investigation continues.
