SAN DIEGO - One of the students involved in a February brawl at Lincoln High School will be rejoining his peers for the start of the school year Monday.
On Feb. 26, a fight broke out during the lunch period at Lincoln High. A school resource officer who attempted to break up the fight was taken to the hospital with a head injury and four students were also taken for treatment for being pepper sprayed.
A portion of the incident was captured by students on cell phone video.
Two teenagers were later taken into custody. One of those students, Jesse Duncan, is being allowed to return to the school this year.
Over the weekend, the San Diego Schools Police Officers Association issued a statement condemning the San Diego Unified School District’s decision to allow the student to return to Lincoln High.
The union claims it agreed to transfer the involved officer if the students involved in the fight wouldn't be allowed to return to Lincoln. The union believes the school district went back on its word.
"When the SDSPOA was informed late last week that the student, who injured a school police officer, would return to Lincoln High School, we were caught off guard and utterly disappointed. The disappointment stems from SDUSD turning their back on the students of Lincoln High School. In meetings with their student body leadership, district representatives, the School Police Department and our association, we all agreed we needed to work together to get past this. To do so we needed a fresh start, which included a new officer at Lincoln and all the participants that injured the police officer not return to the school. Respecting the wishes of the students and their desire to not only move forward but also rebuild the reputation of Lincoln High, the POA agreed to not fight the officer’s involuntary transfer. The district representatives also agreed to do their part by assuring the student would also not return."
SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten released a statement in response to the association's concerns:
"There are people who think we should expel every student who makes a mistake. And, on the other side, there are people who want to remove all police officers from schools. My job as Superintendent is to keep our students safe while giving them the best education possible, and I accept that will not make everyone happy. Nothing is more important than keeping our students safe. We are working with school police and the schools to ensure that the students and officers have what they need to work together in peace and have safe environments that result in successful outcomes for all parties involved."
10News will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
