Prom in jeopardy after big food fight at Jackson High School

Published 10:29 pm Thursday, May 14, 2009

MILL CREEK — A food fight at Henry M. Jackson High School on Thursday has at least 14 students in hot water and could threaten the senior prom later this month.

School leaders heard rumors that a food fight was being planned well before the school’s first lunch at 10:50 a.m. They spoke to four students and their parents beforehand, added extra staff to the cafeteria and hoped that would keep the food from flying.

It didn’t.

The fracas, which included milk cartons, pizza and fruit, lasted 10 to 12 minutes, officials said.

“It’s disappointing,” said school Principal Terry Cheshire, who said there haven’t been any other food fights in the nearly five years he has led the campus.

Now, the May 23 prom and any other large group activities involving Jackson students are in limbo for the rest of the school year. School leaders want assurances that students can have a safe and respectful event. A final decision on prom hasn’t been made.

Junior Ionna Ilarionova said she understands the school’s concerns, but hopes the administration doesn’t come down too hard on the students involved.

“I can totally understand if they would have to take the prom away,” said Ionna, who as a class treasurer is part of student government. “Of course it’s shocking and whatnot, but so is having a food fight.”

“I think that there needs to be punishment but it can’t be too harsh so the kids at our school don’t rebel,” she added.

Cheshire said he is looking for students to help come up with a solution.

For now, 14 students have been given an emergency expulsion, a removal from school while officials investigate. That’s a legal option schools have for students deemed a threat to themselves or others or who are accused of significantly disrupting the educational process.

Each of the students now in trouble will be required to come to the school with their parents to meet with the principal and talk about the incident and about future behavior, school officials said.

Discipline, such as community service and suspensions, will be considered, Cheshire said.

More students are expected to face disciplinary action, he added.

School leaders plan to review YouTube.com and other Web sites for any footage that may help identify students involved in the misbehavior.

District officials believe the students were looking for publicity. Video taken from a cell phone was posted on a Seattle TV station Web site before the school day ended.

“They used all the technology to create a ruckus and draw a lot of attention to this,” said Mary Waggoner, a school district spokeswoman. “The response to this — the time to clean up and investigate — is a pretty extensive waste of taxpayer money.”

“This was an act of defiance,” she added. “It was not a spontaneous thing.”

Cheshire said the one silver lining he saw was the effort by students and staff to clean and get the cafeteria spotless before a second lunch period began.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.