Cafeteria fight reveals issues between school district's armed guards, police

MONROEVILLE, Pa. — A cafeteria fight in the Gateway School District has revealed issues between the district’s new armed guards and the Monroeville Police Department.

The brawl began Monday as a fight between two girls at the Gateway High School. Several other students quickly joined in. Cellphone video of the incident, which was circulated on social media, shows nearby faculty members jumping in to try to break up the students.

Monroeville police were called to the school, but district officials said the responding officers refused to issue citations.

The fight comes just five months after security measures were changed in the district. As part of a cost-related decision,

, which consists of former officers, rather than employing a school resource officer through the Monroeville Police Department.

The most recent fight has some in the district questioning whether students are safe, and calling for any tension between the police and the guards to be cleared up.

“We're all here for the same reasons. We're here for the safety of the community, the students and staff, and we hope moving forward, we don't have any other issues,” Gateway School Board member Chad Stubenbort said.

Monroeville Mayor Greg Erosenko was the first to bring up the issue surrounding the fight at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

"If everybody who's ever been a police officer knows the standard operating procedure - that could not happen - for the simple fact that our officers did not see the fight,” he said, regarding the request for officers to cite students.

A school board member said that while the students were not cited, they were suspended from school. The board member said that regardless, the district’s guards are still waiting on a government-issued agency code.

Both the police department and the school district agreed that meetings are necessary moving forward.

Cox Media Group