15-year-old charged in Virginia high school stabbing
15-year-old charged in Virginia high school stabbing
A Fairfax County student has been charged in connection with the stabbing of another student at West Potomac High School. The violent incident, which occurred on Wednesday, was captured on video and has since gone viral, sparking widespread concern among parents, students, and staff.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Fairfax County student has been charged in connection with the stabbing of another student at West Potomac High School. The violent incident, which occurred on Wednesday, was captured on video and has since gone viral, sparking widespread concern among parents, students, and staff.
The Fairfax County School Board addressed the matter during a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday. Many in attendance expressed frustration over the perceived lack of security intervention during the fight that left a 16-year-old student injured.
Teen charged in stabbing
What we know:
In a joint statement, School Board members Mateo Dunne, Ilryong Moon, and Ryan McElveen noted that West Potomac High School employs only one school resource officer (SRO) for its nearly 3,000 students—falling short of the national standard of one SRO per 1,000 students. The Board members emphasized the urgent need to increase security staffing throughout the district.
Fairfax County recently began a pilot weapons detection program, which the Board members urged be made permanent.
Stabbing captured on video
"I want our children to feel safe because they are safe. For too long we have talked about bathrooms that kids are afraid to enter, or bathrooms that are locked because bad things happen in them, said Mateo Dunne, the Mount Vernon District Representative on the Fairfax County School Board. "That time must end. I know that my collogues agree that we must work with the fierce urgency of now to insure a situation like this never happens again."
Additional security measures under consideration include:
- Increasing the number of security staff
- Securing entry doors during school hours
- Installing cameras both inside and outside of schools
- Conducting security audits at every school
Funding these upgrades presents a challenge, as Fairfax County has requested budget cuts across all departments. One proposed cut is the elimination of middle school after-school programs, which Board members argue provide critical support to adolescents and should be preserved.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Fairfax County Police and West Potomac High School.