Picking up the pieces

Students and school officials draw out lessons from last week’s food fight,By Linda Smith Hancharick Warwick — “This is not role model material.” That was Joe Rodenbaugh’s opinion of last Tuesday’s food fight at Warwick Valley High School. Rodenbaugh, a junior, said a girl who was sitting next to him in the south cafeteria, a senior and his friend, just picked up half of her sandwich wrap and chucked it. She got no response, he said, so she took a tampon out of her purse and hurled it at another kid. “I didn’t stick around long,” he said of what should have been his lunch period, at around 11:45 that morning. Most of the kids were with him, and left the cafeteria. But enough stayed around and not only threw food, but overturned tables and chairs. Rodenbaugh doesn’t want this to become a tradition at his high school. “It happened last year, but I don’t think it was this dramatic,” he said. “Last year there were food fights and water balloons, but only one kid was arrested. This year five were arrested. We’re not getting better; it’s getting worse.” Either that, or the district is just cracking down more. Dr. Frank Greenhall, Warwick’s superintendent, said he responded to the cafeteria as soon as he heard there was a problem. “There were two separate food fights, during two separate lunch periods,” said Greenhall. “I’m not sure but I think some of the same people were involved with both.” Greenhall said High School Principal Randall Barbarash went right into action. That same day, calls were made to parents and meetings were setting up for 7:30 the following morning. And the district is still looking at the tapes — everything was caught on tape, he said — to determine if more disciplinary action will be taken against more students. One senior is not participating in graduation Saturday night because of this; five students will serve in-school suspensions during the summer; and a number of superintendent’s hearings have been set up. Superintendent’s hearings may result in severe punishments for students, including being removed from the school next year. According to Warwick Police Lieutenant Thomas Maslanka, four arrests were made for disorderly conduct and one for resisting arrest. Maslanka said no one was seriously hurt, although a couple of officers, including himself, were rolling around on the floor with the student resisting arrest. Officers were hit by some food, but none were injured. What bothered Maslanka, though, was that one of the women who were cleaning up the mess slipped and hurt her back. “It was absolutely disgraceful,” he said, although he added that most kids were not involved. Maslanka also had high praise for Greenhall, who, he said, was there the entire time and stood with the police and the teachers. “He is definitely taking a hands-on approach,” said Maslanka. “He’s very concerned with the behavior.” And Greenhall is taking action. “Just because these things happen on the last day of school, doesn’t mean there will be no consequences,” said Greenhall. Rodenbaugh agrees. “A majority of the kids were not involved at all,” said Rodenbaugh, “but I understand completely if they come down hard and we all have to pay for it. Kids will complain about the school getting more strict, but we did it ourselves.” Greenhall disputed initial reports of ceiling damage, hanging electrical wires and injuries to himself. Four ceiling tiles were displaced near the cafeteria, which left some computer cables exposed. And while not diminishing the severity of the incident, he said fewer than five percent of the student population was involved. “There are quite a few leaders in that (junior) class,” said Greenhall. “In my short time here, I’ve gotten to know quite a few juniors. They are growing up. There is a lot of good here. The kids I’ve met are just fantastic.” Meanwhile, part of what bothered Rodenbaugh was that his younger brother read about it and saw it on the local news. “I don’t want him to see this in the paper and think this is cool and grow up to do it himself when he is in high school,” he said. He is not concerned with his friends’ reactions. “This is not a popularity contest,” he said. “They can be mad at me because I’m speaking out against this. It doesn’t mean I don’t like them. I just don’t like what they’ve done.” Greenhall said he and other administrators will work with student leaders and others to prevent this from happening again. “This won’t start the last week of school next year; we start now for next year,” Greenhall added. “We have good kids. We want them to say ‘this is our school and this is not how we want to be represented’.” And he looks forward. “Most kids are good kids,” he said. “They make mistakes. That doesn’t mean they are bad kids. The event is over. The process in education is to learn from something and not let it happen again.”