McKinley High School seniors now are scheduled to return to in-person instruction on Feb. 28, with juniors returning March 1 and freshmen and sophomores returning March 2, it was announced at Wednesday's Buffalo Board of Education meeting.
The announcement came a week after a 14-year-old student was severely stabbed and a security guard was shot in the leg during a melee outside the school on Elmwood Avenue, which prompted school officials to move to remote instruction for students at the school while officials work on plans to improve security.
The 17-year-old arrested Monday, the second teenager charged in a four-day span, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
"Our first priority as a board is to return to in-person instruction and a safer environment. And the superintendent has put a plan in place to reset the school. There's a new administration, and there was a parent meeting last night," School Board President Louis Petrucci said at the start of the board meeting.
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Concerns about the violent incident dominated the first three hours of the meeting, which included comments by parents, community leaders and school officials, many of whom spoke of the need for cohesion among all of the concerned entities.
Marc Bruno, who has taught for 20 years in the district, addressed safety concerns and the need for improved communication as a proactive approach to stem violence in Buffalo schools. Bruno spoke of what he described as a huge brawl during dismissal inside Riverside High School on the same day as the incident at McKinley.
Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash said the district is taking steps to address concerning incidents, such as fights, that have happened at a slightly higher rate at McKinley and a handful of other schools than on average across the district.
"I blame people who were involved in the acts of violence. I'm not blaming anyone in this room," Bruno said. "We need to improve communication between staff, teachers and the people in this room."
He added that he would like to see associate superintendents meet with teachers and staff at least once or twice a year.
Meanwhile, Robert Boreanaz, counsel for the district's principals union – Buffalo Council of Supervisors and Administrators – spoke on behalf of the union's president, Crystal Barton.
"First, BCSA and its members would like to express our sincere and deepest thoughts and prayers for our colleague, school security officer Bradley Walker, and the injured student at McKinley High School," Boreanaz said.
"It is also our hope that the young individuals responsible for these violent acts last week find guidance, support and peace. While the events last week at McKinley High School were very violent, there have been other dangerous events at our schools, too many," he added.
Buffalo Police said late Thursday that they had a 17-year-old male in custody in connection with an incident that occurred a day prior at McKinley High School in which a 14-year-old boy was stabbed and a security guard was shot.
A day after the incident on Feb. 10, a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault. Then, on Monday, another 17-year-old who was accused of firing a handgun into a crowd and wounding the security guard in the leg, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
As parents and community leaders called for unified leadership to address acts of violence in the district, Superintendent Kriner Cash said he agreed with many of the comments.
"The thing that resonated was, how do we do this together?" Cash said. "This is not the time to do the blame thing. This is an issue that we're dealing with all over the country ... this tremendous escalation of violence."
In response to the shooting, McKinley has switched to remote learning for the rest of the week.
Cash later introduced Toyia Wilson, associate superintendent for school leadership, to explain the process for resetting protocols to improve security and reduce incidents of violence at McKinley, which involved meetings with parents over the weekend. Those meetings will continue while the school remains in remote learning mode, Wilson and newly-appointed McKinley principal Moustafa Khalil explained.
Meanwhile, all after-school activities at McKinley resumed Monday.
