Southport High School Is Increasing Security

Emily Longnecker/Eyewitness News

Southport – A local high school has a new plan of action to stop the growing number fights at school.

The Perry Township School District says its taking a tougher stance on discipline and it starts with a new plan they’ve spent this week developing. The fighting at Southport High School came to light when cell phone video of students brawling was posted on YouTube.

But drawing even more attention is a fight in the cafeteria that happened earlier this week. It left a 17-year-old female student critically injured and hospitalized.

Police have been to the school at least a dozen times this year. Parents say its out of control.

“It has gotten out of hand and it seems to be escalating,” said parent David Schilling.

“We’ve heard about several fights. I know some people whose children have been in fights and I definitely think that something needs to be done and they do need to get it under control,” said Schilling’s wife, Maureen.

Perry Township School District says they’ll start with a new action plan. The strategies include more security cameras, a dedicated hotline where students can anonymously report concerns, more adults when more students are in the halls and changes to the lunch period, like the length of it and number of supervisors.

But students Eyewitness News talked to believe this high school is no more violent than the next. They say recent fights have just put it in the spotlight.

“There’s fights at every high school, so its not necessarily as huge of a deal as everyone makes it out to be,” said one student.

The district thinks differently. They have plans to bring in a nationally recognized expert on school safety and create a task force of parents, teachers, students, administrators and folks in the community.

One of the items up for discussion is a “one and done” fighting policy.

“If we just take some action about it, then it will just get us a step closer to fixing the problem,” said another student.

“People now, they don’t think that the threats are real. The kids think fighting is okay,” said one concerned parent.

But the district wants to send the message with its new plan that it’s not okay with them.

Student remains hospitalized

A Southport High School student is still in the hospital after a school fight. Danelle Loyd, 17, is still in serious condition with head injuries.

The fight took place in the school’s cafeteria on Tuesday. Police were called to the scene and say the fight involved Loyd and a 15-year-old student. Loyd ended up with the most severe injuries. She was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

Witnesses say she threw the first punch.

“Danelle came up and hit Jordan first and Jordan reacted. It went too far. I don’t think her intentions were to hurt Danelle. But it’s 50-50, you know. Both did damage. It’s just one just got hurt worse,” said a student who witnessed the fight.

Perry Township Schools has said that the 15-year-old has been suspended for the rest of the week. The school district also says this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. Administrators say they’re working on a comprehensive plan to upgrade security at the school and will be releasing it Friday.

The prosecutor’s office is meeting with detectives to decide if they will file charges.