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Sheriff: Seven students wanted after series of fights on Livonia High's campus
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LIVONIA — Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Rene' Thibodeaux said that seven arrests are expected after three separate fights at Livonia High School over the last several days.
Thibodeaux said that fights happened on the campus on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.
WBRZ previously reported that a student was taken to the hospital on Monday after being stabbed with a pencil.
According to Thibodeaux, six juveniles and one 17-year-old will be arrested for the incident on Monday.
"(We're) trying to find a place to hold some juveniles," he said, saying all seven were students."
According to Thibodeaux, four of the juveniles have been arrested as of 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening.
Officials said Monday's fight "stemmed from events that occurred in the community."
Pointe Coupee Parish School System Superintendent Kim Canezaro said Wednesday that students who commit serious offenses will be removed from campus and given due process, which "may result in an alternate educational placement."
She added that students who follow the rules will be educated, and those who don't will not be on the campus.
"I've talked about it with my school officials here, my teachers, and my administrators. We build relationships with students, so we want the students to feel like they have at least one adult on every campus to go to, to be able to share anything that they want with that adult. We have mental health services in place, we can do large groups, we can do individuals," Canezaro said.
She also said that the school system "regrets the events that occurred this week; however, we remain focused on educating our students and being a support system for our faculty and staff."
The fights came seven months after a student was arrested for allegedly stabbing his classmate. After this incident, new arrival procedures were implemented to "ensure a safe and orderly campus entry."
Additionally, around a week before the start of their school year, every teacher in Pointe Coupee was invited to Livonia High School for GOHSEP training about violence prevention.
"I had originally reached out to GOHSEP for that reason because we needed to be instructed on best practices in case we have incidents that happen in school. Unfortunately, we had that, and we regret that it happened, and we will not tolerate that behavior," Canezaro said.
WBRZ also spoke with Lt. Cedrick Epps of the Pointe Coupee Sheriff's Office, who is the School Resource supervisor.
He told WBRZ that Livonia High School's School Resource Officer was taking care of the arrest procedures for Monday's incident at the time of the interview.
"He's actually working Tuesdays as well, but as far as today, as far as this moment right now. He's working on Monday. There were three individuals involved in Tuesday's incident," Epps said.
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