Officials: Monday morning fight was unusual.
By: Lea Kahn
A Lawrence High School security guard and a bystander were injured in a melee that broke out in the high school cafeteria shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, according to Lawrence Township police.
A 16-year-old sophomore was charged with aggravated assault when he punched the female security guard as she tried to break up the fight, said Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny. Additional students may be charged in the fracas, pending completion of the investigation, he said.
Besides the security guard, who was punched in the back and on the abdomen, a student who was sitting nearby in the cafeteria was struck by a chair thrown by one of the students, Chief Posluszny said. He received a cut on the head, but neither he nor the security guard required medical treatment.
Although the incident involved black students and white students, there is no indication that the fight was racially motivated, Chief Posluszny said. There is no indication that it was gang-related, either, he said.
Chief Posluszny and Lawrence High School Principal Donald Proffit said the incident was unusual. They said they do not recall such an incident in recent years. Mr. Proffit has been the principal for five years, and Chief Posluszny has been police chief for nearly three years.
In the meantime, 10 students who were involved in the incident have been handed five-day suspensions, Chief Posluszny said. As many as 20 students took part in the incident, which was reported to police at 8:12 a.m., he said. Eight police officers responded.
The fight apparently stemmed from an incident that occurred at lunch Friday, when a Polish student tossed a packet of barbecue sauce at a black student who was sitting at an adjacent table, said Mr. Proffit. The packet of barbecue sauce splattered the black student.
Monday morning, the student who was squirted with the barbecue sauce approached a group of Polish students and asked if they had anything to do with the Friday afternoon incident, Mr. Proffit said.
Some of the Polish students, who are new to the United States, apparently did not understand the conversation, Mr. Proffit said. The student came back to the table with a few more students, and then left. He returned for a third time and that’s when the fight broke out.
The incident escalated and two chairs were thrown by students, along with pushing and shoving and a verbal altercation, Mr. Proffit wrote in a letter that was sent home with high school students Tuesday.
The staff quelled the disturbance quickly, and police officers were summoned to the high school, Mr. Proffit wrote. Three police officers remained in the school building all day, and they will be present the rest of the week, he wrote.
Mr. Proffit said the high school administration has worked hard for the past five years to operate the school based on shared values of respect, responsibility, fairness, honesty and compassion and that’s why the Monday morning fight was upsetting.
"What concerns me is, when there was an opportunity to talk things out, it didn’t happen," Mr. Proffit said. "They should have turned to an adult on Friday. Barbecue sauce washes out. It was not directed at that individual specifically. We are still trying to determine the reason why it happened."
Mr. Proffit said that once the suspensions are over and the students return to school, he would like to have the two groups sit down together to find out how the chain of events took place and to begin the healing process.
The principal said he would like the two groups to understand that while some students may speak a different language or have different colored skin, those differences should not keep them apart.
"My expectation for this place is reflected in the words of Johnetta Cole, former president of Spelman College ‘We are for difference: for respecting difference, for allowing difference, for encouraging difference, until difference no longer makes a difference,’" Mr. Proffit said.
Although the fight occurred during the First Day of the Week period which allows students to take part in clubs and activities, to prepare for the rest of the week or to socialize Mr. Proffit said it has not been decided whether to cancel it. The Monday morning period runs from 7:55 a.m. to 8:25 a.m.
Mr. Proffit said he plans to sit down with the three high school assistant principals David Milinowicz, Mindy Milavsky and Kiya Williams to discuss it. Additional input will be sought from students and staff. Many students are worried that the actions of a few students may cost them the First Day of the Week period, he said.

