JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools saw the number of fights drop in its district, but Englewood High School is still seeing an increase.
Now with less than half of the school year complete, the current tally sits at 540 across the district and 12 at Englewood High School. At the going rate, the overall number of fights could drop by nearly 25 percent but continue to rise at the school located at 4412 Barnes Rd.
It all started when fights caught on camera spilling out into the street triggered parents to demand action. The parent of an Englewood High School student brought the concern to the On Your Side team back in October. She shared videos taken from inside and outside the school which showed several people involved in fights.
The On Your Side team filed a records request with Duval County Public Schools. They discovered that during the 2018-2019 school year the district -- which has 195 schools -- reported 1,554 fights. Englewood accounting for 21 of those. Furthermore, the number of students involved in each fight is not included in the records, just the number of reported incidents.
First Coast News heard from Englewood’s Principal Sara Bravo after our initial report in October. She explained there had been a slight uptick in fights in the weeks immediately preceding the videos.
Bravo previously said she did not believe adding more security guards or police is the answer.
“I think it’s about teaching students how to problem solve, how to resolve conflict without escalation to physical violence,” Bravo said in October.
First Coast News Crime and Safety Analyst Mark Baughman said when it comes to school fights – the main concern is escalating violence.
“These need to be documented and they need to be fleshed out to see what was behind that fight,” Baughman said.
A spokeswoman from DCPS explained fighting is against their code of conduct and, "All schools work to ensure positive learning through both security and discipline as well as positive intervention strategies.”