Officials with Jefferson City Public Schools say that while there may be a perception that there are discipline issues at the schools, incidents have actually been down.
On Wednesday, Jefferson City police officers dealt with altercations at Lewis and Clark Middle School where an eighth-grade male student assaulted another student by biting him. Another eighth-grade male student then needed to be restrained after becoming verbally abusive to the staff and an eighth-grade female student verbally assaulted a staff member.
"We have very few discipline issues when one thinks about the number of students who come to our schools every day," said David Luther, spokesman for the Jefferson City Public School District. "There have been fewer than three fights at the high school all year, and one of those was on a bus. The perception that the high school or middle schools are suffering from ongoing, daily fights, altercations, etc. is simple untrue."
Luther noted the district had been in session 68 days. "With roughly 2,000 students at JCHS, three actual fights," he said. "The same things could be said about the middle schools. Are there disruptions? Yes. Do students make poor decisions? Yes. But the vast majority of students come to school each day and are learning and behaving and doing well."