Fight at Revere High School injures teacher amid calls for help combating violence

A high school teacher was injured in a fight among students Wednesday in Revere, Massachusetts, where violence has increasingly been a problem.

The fight at Revere High School is the second this school year, which started just over two weeks ago.

Students tell NBC10 Boston the school’s principal had to break up the fight, which left one teacher bleeding from his arm after cutting it on a locker.

City leaders in Revere are looking to address violence in schools.

Members of the Revere Teachers Association have been calling for help to combat violence. At a Revere City Council meeting Monday, teachers and students urged leaders for additional safety measures.

Mayor Patrick Keefe announced Wednesday that a fourth school resource officer would work at Revere High School. He also said the city has “housed” the police department’s Behavioral Health Unit at the school “to create better relationships with our student population, and to provide the clinical and social-emotional support we believe can be a root cause of many incidents.”

Safety in the classroom. That’s the key concern of students and teachers alike in Revere, who made their presence known at a heated city council meeting Monday night.

The city is also working with outside resources like Roca, an organization that aims to disrupt urban violence, Keefe said.

“We need help,” said teacher Michelle Ervin, the Revere Teachers Association’s copresident. “I don’t want another one of colleagues to bleed when they go to work.”

Ervin helped break up the most recent fight outside her classroom.

“I started pushing, physically pushing students, out of the vicinity to try to keep them out of the situation,” she said.

The union says it has been in contract negotiations with Revere Public Schools since last March.

In a fight two weeks ago, Revere High School’s assistant principle suffered a head injury.

Nine students were permanently expelled from the school after that fight, which also resulted in criminal charges. Two students were removed from the school after Wednesday’s fight, with the investigation still ongoing.