Parents, students concerned following recent fight at Battle High School

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A recent fight at Battle High School in Columbia on Monday was the turning point for one Columbia parent.

An email ABC 17 News obtained from parent Dana Shepherd shows the principal of Battle High School Alyssa Galbreath addressing a fight that resulted in a police response. The letter states that an "altercation between a small group of students" occurred at the end of the day on Monday.

According to the letter, law enforcement protocol led to other law enforcement officers responding to the incident, as well.

Galbreath wrote the students involved in the fight are receiving disciplinary consequences outlined in the district's student handbook and Board of Education policy. The letter calls on parents to help mitigate future scenarios similar to Monday's.

"Parents, you can help us by sitting down with your scholars and asking them about conflicts they might be having with other students, explaining the expectation of solving problems respectfully, and making sure you know who their trusted adult is at school, someone they feel comfortable talking to if they are having issues," the letter states.

CPD spokeswoman Jenny Hopper confirmed to ABC 17 News that officers responded for a disturbance and an assault, but said it wasn't clear if the two were related.

Hopper said she couldn't provide additional details related to the incident.

Jasmine Buckner is the mother of a senior at Battle High School who said while she isn't concerned for her daughter now, her other youngest child will not be attending the school in the future.

"It's because of the fights, it's the lack of funds that battle has out there," Buckner said. "Battle really is the battle ground and it's sad that the kids have to actually fight for their academics. They have to fight for their programs out there."

Buckner said fights at the school aren't new, and she's heard about them over the years.

According to the city's 911 dispatch page, calls from between Sept. 1 2023-Sept. 9 2024 show Battle High School had the most calls made to the school, compared to Hickman and Rock Bridge high schools.

According to the log, there were eight calls for alleged assaults at Battle High School in that time frame. Rock Bridge High School had five calls for assault, while Hickman High School had none.

Dispatch log data indicates that during that same time period, there were 421 calls made to Battle, 330 were made to Rock Bridge and 82 were made to Hickman. Battle had 44 calls made for 911 checks, while Rock Bridge had 19 and Hickman had 16.

According to Battle High School sophomore Jasmine Vaughn, while she's seen fights at the school in the past, Monday's was the worst she's seen.

Vaughn said the scene consisted of numerous youth fighting, some of which joined in after the initial fight broke out. Vaughn also described seeing officers pulling students off of each other and police having to spray mace into the air in an attempt to get students to leave the area.

"As I was like going to the bus or whatever, getting picked up, there was like two (fights) that broke out and then three more. And then like as I was leaving, there was like a total of 12 cops," Vaughn said. "This is definitely a typical thing, but it's never been like this bad where like a bunch of police officers are showing up to the school...like everybody was just shocked."

Dana Shepherd said while she believes the school district as a whole could address the issue to make sure everyone is on the same page, she believes the email from the principal shows progess.

"It just seems to me that they have a plan now," Shepherd said. "They have a plan when something happens how they're going to conduct themselves and then get the students disciplinary consequences because to me, if you just keep doing it every year that's an issue."

However, Buckner said she would like to see more action.

Buckner said her sister attended Battle High School four years ago and never saw fights to the extent of the current ones. She said she believes the district needs to become more involved and hopes Monday stresses the importance of shedding light on Battle because the school has potential.

"I think it should have been done a couple of years ago, it's been downhill," Buckner said. It's a complete change. You know, she even talks about how much of a difference it's been and if people higher up don't get involved, then we have failed our children out of battle."

In a statement sent to ABC 17 News on Wednesday, CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said despite Monday's incident, the school has many positives and stressed the district doesn't tolerate violence.

"Battle High School is a great school.  There are amazing things happening at the school.  As is true in any school environment, there will unfortunately be conflicts between students.  We do not tolerate fighting or school violence of any kind.  We do work to resolve conflict, provide appropriate consequences, and restore the harm caused," the statement reads. "We have multiple safety resources and supports for students and staff at all schools, including Battle.  Specifically, Battle High School has two school resource officers and the district’s assistant director of safety and security assigned to the school."

According to a building discipline incident report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in 2023, Battle High School had 35 total incidents, with 1,567 students enrolled in the school. An "incident" is described as an action resulting in a student being "removed from a traditional classroom setting" for 10 or more consecutive days.

Of those incidents, 25 were for a "violent act," though it doesn't describe what those acts entailed.

Rock Bridge High School had 10 incidents with an enrollment of 2,017 students. Hickman High School had eight incidents, with an enrollment rate of 2,030.