A staff member at a St. Paul high school needed medical attention after she was injured while students were fighting, police said Tuesday.
A school resource officer saw staff members trying to break up a fight in the cafeteria of Central High School about 12:20 p.m. Thursday, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. A police report described the fight as large, but the school district said there were two students fighting in a crowded area.
A staff member, in her early 50s, “felt like she was hit multiple times,” according to a police report, Ernster said. School district spokeswoman Toya Stewart Downey said a staff member who was in the area was hit in the back of the head by a student’s elbow outside the lunchroom.
The staff member left to get medical attention; information about her injuries was not known, according to Ernster. School officials said she returned to work Tuesday.
The altercation between two Central students happened just outside the lunchroom and began over social media outside of school, according to Stewart Downey.
“Because it was near the cafeteria and lunch was dismissing there were many students present in the area but not involved in the fight,” she said.
Police did not make arrests, but said the investigation continues.
“Please know that school safety is a top priority for St. Paul Public Schools,” said Stewart Downey, adding that they will follow the district’s discipline procedures.
At Central last year, a teacher was knocked unconscious when he tried to break up a fight in the lunchroom. John Ekblad has filed a lawsuit against the school district.
This school year in St. Paul has been quieter than last, which was marked by incidents of students fighting and attacks on teachers. The district added more school counselors, social workers, psychologists and nurses.
School resources officers also have taken a different role in St. Paul schools this year. Students caught fighting or carrying small amounts of alcohol or marijuana are being sent home to their parents instead of to the juvenile detention center. In the first quarter of the school year, St. Paul school resources officers arrested one student, down from 21 arrests in the same period in 2015.
Between January and March, St. Paul school resource officers made eight arrests last year and five this year.