Investigations are continuing into an incident at Blaxland High School which saw the female deputy principal assaulted and police arrest four teenagers and charge one.
The incident happened 10 days ago. Blue Mountains police said about 1pm on Monday, September 15, students from a school out of the area had allegedly come to Blaxland to fight. Officers attended the school which police then reported was "locked down".
About 2.20pm four teenage girls, who were not Blaxland High students, were found in the school. The deputy principal asked them to leave and one of the girls allegedly punched the deputy.
Police arrested the 14-year-old girl and she was taken to Springwood Police Station.
She was charged with common assault, assault police, resist arrest and behave in an offensive manner in school. She was given bail and appeared in children's court at the weekend.
Three other girls, two aged 14 and one 13, ran from officers out of the school and onto the rail corridor towards Glenbrook station. They were arrested and taken to Springwood Police Station and released pending further inquiries.
Last Wednesday, the school gates were still padlocked and a Police Rescue van was patrolling the area in and around the bus bay. The sign on the gate (pictured) said for visitors to contact the office to be let in. When the Gazette asked about the health of the deputy principal, Karen Coleman, this paper was told to re-direct all enquiries to the Department of Education.
The Gazette's Facebook page was full of comments about the issue, which the Gazette understands started on social media the previous weekend.
Kristen Salijevic wrote: "The school can only do so much. It's really up to parents to ensure their children are educated on social media and respectful to others. There's no way I'd allow my children to write what I read on FB and Instagram."
Michael Ghobrial said: "From what I hear the school and the police handled the situation exceptionally, shame some kids have no respect for authority."
Allison Simpson wrote "the school has held numerous seminars for students outlining the pitfalls of social media, so they are doing their best to educate students to help prevent issues such as this arising. Again - Well done BHS".
A Department of Education spokesman, Liam Thorpe, issued the following statement about the incident: "The safety of students and staff is the paramount concern of Blaxland High School. The school is a safe place for learning and teaching. Following the incident, the school restricted access to the site as a precaution. Blaxland High has communicated with parents about the incident. This has included advice for parents on social media. The school has liaised closely with police."
He also said the department would not comment on the medical details of staff.
Police said they had been tasked to look around following the incident but there was "no credible threat".
