— Parents of students attending Madison East High School have organized over the past week to provide a visible support system for students in the wake of massive fights Monday and higher-than-normal behavioral incidents throughout the school year.
It started with a Facebook post from Antoinette Kendricks following multiple fights Monday that resulted in two students being cited and five in the hospital to be treated for pepper spray, after more than a dozen Madison police officers used pepper spray to break up the fights.
She called on parents to step up and help organize for the students: enough was enough.
“My motto is it takes a village,” she told News 3 Now on Friday. “But also, the truth of the matter is: can’t no one control our kids the way we control our kids.”
Every day since Monday, parents have responded. With the help of her friend Noelle Brusky, who’d been talking with school officials about ways parents could help, they’ve used a private Facebook group of East High parents to help organize.
Now, they’re coordinating daily to ensure a dozen or so parents can be visible and present on school grounds over the lunch hour and when classes dismiss for the day. MMSD’s spokesperson Tim LeMonds estimates about 90% of behavioral incidents this year have been happening over the open lunch hour when students are able to leave the campus.
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