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Week starts without incident at East
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Things were mostly back to normal Monday as the full student body returned to East High School.
Freshmen and sophomores returned to school and went through the same conflict-resolution lessons the upperclassmen got last week.
“We’ve added security,” said Stephen Stohla, interim superintendent.
That includes additional police officers who moved throughout the building during the school day.
Last Tuesday, a series of fights among students brought several city police officers to the school. East closed for the remainder of that day and all of the next. Seniors returned last Thursday to school followed by juniors Friday.
The school days last week started with conflict resolution and then tutoring for the state tests, which started Monday.
After conflict-resolution lessons Monday, freshmen and sophomores continued the regular school day.
Stohla said he also added a utility principal, Edna Douglas, a retired administrator, and a utility counselor, retired principal and guidance counselor Wanda Clark, to help if students or staff need assistance.
The two additional staff will remain “as long as we think they’re needed,” the interim superintendent said.
He said behavior displayed by a small group of students last week won’t be tolerated.
“They need to understand that if they violate the code of conduct, we’ll find alternative education for them somewhere else,” Stohla said.
They can’t be allowed to disrupt the education for the majority of students.
“We have to hold them accountable,” he said of students who don’t follow the rules.
They can be expelled or reassigned to a different school, Stohla said.
He also stressed that those who cause problems are a small percentage of the East students.
“We have 715 kids at East, and 15 to 20 out of that 715 caused problems,” Stohla said. “That means the rest of the kids are doing the right thing.”
Problems at the high school have been discussed at school board and community organization meetings.
Last week’s melee led to charges for some of the students involved.
Police Chief Robin Lees said Monday more charges are expected to be filed soon against students who were involved in the fights. Investigators have been reviewing video footage and interviewing witnesses.
Also Monday, one of two students who have been charged so far, Carlos Uribarry, 17, remains in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center on a juvenile charge of assault after a preliminary hearing in Mahoning County Juvenile Court. Uribarry has been in detention since he was taken into custody at the school.
Also charged was Tyrica Stephens, 15, who faces a charge of disorderly conduct. She was taken into custody at the school, then released, then arraigned in juvenile court the next day. Both are scheduled for court hearings April 11.