This story was updated at 6:30 p.m.
High school students will attend asynchronous learning Friday after two intruders at the high school were arrested Thursday for starting a physical altercation in the cafeteria.
“Students will be expected to log in to their Google Classrooms and complete assignments as needed to close out the second quarter,” Dr. David Glasner, the superintendent, stated in a 6:15 p.m. email. “Teachers will be available for assistance via Google Meet during regular class periods. The link will be shared with students via Google Classroom.”
“This means that high school students will not attend school in person on Friday,” Glasner stated. After- school activities will proceed as scheduled.
Principal Eric Juli said that building security apprehended the two individuals, who are not Shaker students, at which point they were arrested by the Shaker Heights Police Department.
“Two of our students were involved in the fight and have minor injuries,” Juli said in a 1:51 p.m. email to staff.
The intruders, along with two current students, “searched the High School perimeter,” Juli stated in an email to families, until they found an unlocked door. “High School and District personnel, as well as the SHPD, are reviewing the school’s security protocols.”
In a 2:09 p.m. phone interview, SHPD Commander John Cole said he was not yet aware of the incident. He could not be immediately reached for comment at 4:05 p.m.
Senior Ethan Shelley, who saw the fight take place, said the incident is a sign of a growing issue. “We’ve had people who aren’t supposed to be here in the building, we’ve had a growing number of fights,” he said. “It was just recently that we were sent home because a gun was found on school property.”
Tuesday, the building was placed in stay-put status during Crew due to rumors that an intruder was in the building. Police searched the building and found no unauthorized occupants. In November, students were sent home early after administrators confiscated a handgun from a student.
The high school was not placed in lockdown or stay-put status, unlike Tuesday. “In this case, we had the two people, confirmed that they were the only two people, and had them arrested immediately, so there was no reason to put us into a stay-put,” Juli said in an interview. “We are 100 percent confident that they are the only two people.”
Said Shelley, “It feels like a lot of the people who are continually starting fights are not getting appropriately reprimanded.”
Alyson Garfield, Will Stewart and Ruben Rippner contributed reporting.
