Probe into big El Capitan High fight enters second month. What are Merced schools doing?
In the wake of a large brawl at Merced’s El Capitan High School, district officials say they’re beefing up staff training to help prevent violence in the future.
At least three Merced Union High School District administrators have received “non-crisis intervention” following the fight on Sept. 28 that led to the arrest of at least three students.
Because all three students who were arrested are under 18, police and school officials have been limited about what they can say about the incident. However, Ralph Calderon, the MUHSD deputy superintendent, has said students were “more aggressive” toward staffers who tried to break up the brawl.
Merced police have previously said the students face possible misdemeanor charges. The Merced County District Attorney’s Office has not responded to repeated requests for comment. A letter from the district to parents following the fight said the students involved had been suspended from school.
It remains unclear what the fight was over or how many total students were involved, but cellphone video footage of the violence appears to depict a Merced police officer, who was on campus as a school resource officer, using force against a student to try to break up the fight.
An internal investigation conducted by the Merced Union High School District remained ongoing Friday.
But while school officials have remained tight-lipped surrounding details of the incident, they have confirmed taking some steps to try to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Administrators recently completed a certified training from the Crisis Prevention Institute in nonviolent crisis intervention and advanced physical skills.
The program is advertised as a method that “equips staff with the decision-making skills needed to confidently assess and address risk” and teaches “verbal intervention strategies and restrictive interventions with advanced physical skills for high-risk scenarios.”
The effort to train staff to de-escalate fights between students like the one at El Capitan High in September is part of a larger effort to react to security and safety concerns at each of the district’s campuses, a school official said.
The administrators who received training from this institute can now train others in crisis prevention, said Sam Yniguez, the district’s communications director.
“The principals met with students on campus, and the students at El Capitan were asked if they felt safe,” Yniguez said.
Most students told staff they felt safe, Yniguez added.
He also said an adjustment period was expected after students returned to in-person classroom instruction after more than a year away from traditional classrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Many students haven’t been in school for 18 months,” he said. “I’m not trying to minimize what happened, but those who are responsible for [the fight] will be held accountable.”
Yniguez wouldn’t say if school officials are working with prosecutors or whether any school staffers had been disciplined in connection with the incident.
The principal of El Capitan High School was not immediately available for comment Friday.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.