3 more students charged in Everett High School fight

3 more students charged in Everett High School fight

By Lynn Thompson
Times Snohomish County Bureau

Three Everett High School students were charged with misdemeanors Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a fight outside the school March 6 that reignited tensions between administrators and Latino students.

Two Latinas, one 15 and one 16, were charged with obstructing a police officer. An African-American boy, 16, was charged with assault and failure to disperse after allegedly hitting an officer, according to charging papers filed in Snohomish County Juvenile Court.

The fight erupted between the two girls just after school let out. Police were called when school administrators said repeated attempts to break up the fight failed. A large crowd of students gathered, and police said a near-riot erupted as the students taunted administrators and arriving police.

The girls continued to hit each other after police threatened to pepper-spray them. The girls also swore at police and at school administrators, according to charging papers.

As police tried to clear the area, the boy refused to leave. When an officer poked him in the ribs and attempted to guide him away, the boy swore and knocked away the policeman's arm, the court papers say.

Rogelio Hernandez, an 18-year-old senior, was charged two weeks ago with felony assault in connection with the incident. He allegedly knocked a policewoman to the ground as she attempted to break up the fighting girls. The Mexican American, who is a legal resident of the United States and has been here five years, faces possible deportation to Mexico if convicted of the felony.

Latino parents accused the district of overreacting and questioned whether police would have been called if the girls had been white. They also asked for a meeting with district Superintendent Carol Whitehead.

Whitehead declined to meet with them, citing confidentiality of student records. Everett school officials disciplined 13 students, including those charged, after the fight, most of them Latino.

Last year, Latino parents filed 15 complaints with the school district alleging discriminatory treatment of their children. An independent investigator found no overt racism but said a "disconnect" existed between minority students, staff and administrators. Parents also point to the gap in the academic achievement between their students and others in the district.

Hispanic 10th-graders lag significantly behind other Everett students on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Just 26 percent met standards in math last year, compared with 47 percent of 10th-graders in the district.

Their dropout rate is also almost twice as high, with about 20 percent dropping out each year, compared with 11 percent of all district students, according to statistics from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.