MARKHAM WOODS MIDDLE SCHOOL

Every week, John Girard and his fellow intervention officers (who are civilians, not deputies) meet with six Markham Woods students that the school identified as high-risk for dropping out or getting kicked out.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — School leaders at Markham Woods Middle School in Seminole County say fights have decreased tremendously since the first few months of school thanks to increased security and behavioral intervention efforts. The school saw an increase in fights when students returned to face-to-face learning at the beginning of the school year. Officials said there were 25 fights within the first few months of school, almost equal to the entire 2019 school year. READ: Seminole County School District taking steps to reduce fighting among studentsJohnson said since those efforts started, the fighting has gone down drastically. “Oh, it has been really almost a 180 since the first half of the year, it’s really impressive,” Johnson said.

The Seminole County School Board held a nearly two-hour closed-door session on Friday to discuss school safety and security following a reported increase of fights at Markham Woods Middle School.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The Seminole County School Board had a safety and security meeting behind closed doors with the sheriff’s office to discuss the fighting at Markham Woods Middle School. READ: Some Seminole County schools seeing increase in fights breaking outSchool board officials said the district will be adding additional staff at Markham Woods Middle School, including a new dean focused on behavior and a dedicated behavioral intervention specialist on campus that’s being advertised on the school’s website. READ: Seminole County School District taking steps to reduce fighting among studentsSince the beginning of the year, Markham Woods Middle School has seen an increase in the number of fights. There have been at least 25 fights this year, close to last year’s total number. That is dramatically greater than the three fights recorded in the 2019-2020 school year.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates is digging deeper into an ongoing problem in a Seminole County school that’s putting students and staff in danger. We’ve told you about a number of fights breaking out at Markham Woods Middle School. So far this year, the Sheriff’s Office said it has arrested 10 students over the fights. In 2019, before the pandemic, Markham Woods only had three fights recorded for the year. District spokesman Michael Lawrence said with Markham Woods, there are a lot of unknown variables.

Markham Woods Middle School parents grow concerned as fights at the school become more frequent and violent.