Lake Mary High School addressing 'bad behavior' on campus

LAKE MARY, Fla. - Lake Mary High School has recently seen a number of high-profile violent incidents. Administrators said the bad behavior there is a reflection of bad behavior across the state and country.

"I think that the staff and administration is concerned," said Sarah Ellert. She was reacting to the latest violence at the high school. This time, three students jumped another student in the lunch room. All three attackers are now facing aggravated battery charges.

Administrator Katherine Crnkovich said they were putting more school resource deputies on campus. "They're going to be patrolling, walking the campus, making sure kids are where they're supposed to be, scanning the environment, making sure everything is safe."

According to the stats though, violent incidents were not surging at the school. FOX 35 News looked at numbers from last five years. Last year there were 39 violent incidents on campus, compared to the 2017-2018 school year, when there were 66. Still, administrators said behavior seemed to have gotten worse since the pandemic.

"There's definitely a change that has happened, and it's something we need to get in front of," Crnkovich said.

Other high-profile incidents this year at the school included the school being vandalized with racist graffiti, and another student crashing a car in the parking lot. Administrators said good behavior starts at home. "We need your support to reinforce those positive behaviors that your students need to bring to the classroom," said Crnkovich.

Administrators said for now, Lake Mary was the only high school in the district increasing security. They said the staff there was also working on other ways to address the bad behavior.