After separate fights that broke the jaws of two students at Westlake High School, the new principal there called a time out Tuesday evening, convening parents and students for a brainstorming session.
"We can and should be doing so much better," Grant Rivera told a crowd of about 300 in the auditorium of his school. "If we don't do it, who's going to?"
Violence erupted at the the South Fulton County school last month. On Nov. 7, five students allegedly jumped a junior in a science lab, reportedly stomping his face and breaking his nose and jaw. The alleged attackers, aged 14 to 16, were charged with aggravated assault and battery. The victim waited at the school for about two hours before his mother arrived and took him to the hospital. Rivera said soon afterward that school staff underestimated the seriousness of the injury and should have summoned an ambulance. The motive of the alleged assailants remains unclear. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard wants to try them as adults, and a hearing on his motion is pending. As of Monday, one of the five remained in jail.
Then, last week, two students got into a fight and one suffered a broken jaw. The alleged aggressor was charged with aggravated assault. Both students were suspended for 10 days.
In that case, an ambulance was called right away.
Students who attended Tuesday's forum said ambulances were a more common sight at the school last year. "It was so much worse, but we never got on the news," said Elyssa Blanks, 16, referring to the heavy media coverage of last month's incident. "Last year, a boy he got cut in the face and I never saw it on TV."
Last year, officials reported 69 fights at the school. They resulted in 27 serious injuries. Rivera became principal last summer, and immediately implemented changes. He removed the doors from bathrooms where some teens used to hide from teachers. He consolidated lunch breaks to make it harder for students to skip classes and hang out in the cafeteria. And he forced students who violated the dress code to wear garish school sweat pants for the day.
Despite those changes, Rivera found himself calling on parents for help. In an open letter on the school's website, he called for "challenging conversations" aimed at improving the school's culture.
After his auditorium address, he split up the parents and students into groups of a couple dozen each, and sent them into classrooms. They were asked to generate ideas to encourage more charitable behavior between students, to help the staff improve the culture and to engage families and the community. He promised to synthesize their thoughts in coming days and publicize them before taking action.
Afterward, parent Joel Athy said he thought it would make a difference.
"If we take the initiative, yes, but it's going to be up to us," he said. "We've just got to make sure we're involved in our school."
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