Chaos in the halls of Atlantic City High School last Friday resulted in the suspension of dozens of students.
A fight broke out at the end of the school’s last lunch period that afternoon with students throwing milk and water, Atlantic City School District officials tell NBC10. The fight grew, spilling into the hallways of the school located along the 1400 block of Albany Avenue.
"It was like a jungle," said Jailene Lopez, a student at the school. "Everyone was running. They were throwing milk and juice from the second floor."
Video posted to YouTube show students screaming, yelling and running through the halls. Students tweeting from the school also described the event as a mess.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Haven't seen this many riots in my life lmao Atlantic City High School man — Nick Sacchetti (@NickAllenPower) June 13, 2014
Sherry Yahn, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, tells NBC10 the situation was under control. "I will say although it looks like chaos, it looks terrible, it is not as bad as it looks or it sounds," she said.
Yahn said the students who were recorded running through the halls were simply being herded into the gymnasium by security, which is proper protocol.
In all, 33 students were suspended, district officials said. Most were handed suspensions of 10 days, though the school year only has six days left. Officials also say however that the suspensions won't have an impact on anyone's graduation.
School administrators say steps are being taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
"We're trying the best that we can to keep them from putting any food, especially drinks, into the book bags," Yahn said.
Food fights and other disturbances have been a problem at the high school in past years, although this was the first this school year. Yahn said it's a "vast improvement" over past years. She attributes the improvement to additional staff and security on patrol in the cafeteria.
