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Student Fights At Toki Middle School Posted Online
District: Students Involved Are Being Disciplined
UPDATED: 1:55 pm CDT April 23,
2008
MADISON, Wis. -- Disturbing video showing girls engaged in vicious fights on the Toki Middle School grounds popped up on the popular video upload Web site YouTube.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThe video, which was posted on April 19, featured a fight between girls outside the school and one from inside the building, WISC-TV reported.Madison police confirmed that they responded to fights at Toki on Thursday, April 17, and one on Friday, April 18, but authorities said that they can't say whether the fights were the same ones posted online."School staff are very aware not only of the videos, but of the things that happened," said Madison Superintendent Art Rainwater. "The students have been identified and are being dealt with through the discipline system in the ways that are appropriate for what the incident was."That discipline could include suspension. Rainwater said the incidents are so new the discipline process is still ongoing.The incidents come one month after extra security was added to the school in the form of an additional security guard and a dean of students to deal specifically with problematic students, WISC-TV reported.The additional safety measure came at the request of Toki parents who felt the school was unsafe with escalating violence all year. In March, WISC-TV reported that Madison police had been called to the school 107 times in 2007, including 17 times for disturbances, 11 batteries, five weapons offenses and one arson.Rainwater said that despite these recent fights the school was safe."I think Toki is a very safe place," said Rainwater. "It is a place we have certainly provided additional resources to and they're working very hard."Madison School Board President Arlene Silvera called the video disturbing and sad.As shocking as the video was, the video also proved helpful to school officials. Rainwater said posting it on YouTube allowed the district to identify exactly who was involved in the incident."We get calls to say 'This is on YouTube, were you aware of it?' Sometimes we are, sometimes we aren't, but as soon as we're aware of it, we certainly deal with it immediately and that is the case here," said Rainwater.Silvera said the school board will take up the issue of security and the student code of conduct at a special meeting on Monday at the Doyle Administration Building at 5 p.m.The Toki video was pulled early Tuesday evening from YouTube. The Web site wrote, "The video has been removed due to terms of use violation."
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThe video, which was posted on April 19, featured a fight between girls outside the school and one from inside the building, WISC-TV reported.Madison police confirmed that they responded to fights at Toki on Thursday, April 17, and one on Friday, April 18, but authorities said that they can't say whether the fights were the same ones posted online."School staff are very aware not only of the videos, but of the things that happened," said Madison Superintendent Art Rainwater. "The students have been identified and are being dealt with through the discipline system in the ways that are appropriate for what the incident was."That discipline could include suspension. Rainwater said the incidents are so new the discipline process is still ongoing.The incidents come one month after extra security was added to the school in the form of an additional security guard and a dean of students to deal specifically with problematic students, WISC-TV reported.The additional safety measure came at the request of Toki parents who felt the school was unsafe with escalating violence all year. In March, WISC-TV reported that Madison police had been called to the school 107 times in 2007, including 17 times for disturbances, 11 batteries, five weapons offenses and one arson.Rainwater said that despite these recent fights the school was safe."I think Toki is a very safe place," said Rainwater. "It is a place we have certainly provided additional resources to and they're working very hard."Madison School Board President Arlene Silvera called the video disturbing and sad.As shocking as the video was, the video also proved helpful to school officials. Rainwater said posting it on YouTube allowed the district to identify exactly who was involved in the incident."We get calls to say 'This is on YouTube, were you aware of it?' Sometimes we are, sometimes we aren't, but as soon as we're aware of it, we certainly deal with it immediately and that is the case here," said Rainwater.Silvera said the school board will take up the issue of security and the student code of conduct at a special meeting on Monday at the Doyle Administration Building at 5 p.m.The Toki video was pulled early Tuesday evening from YouTube. The Web site wrote, "The video has been removed due to terms of use violation."Copyright 2008 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
