January 27, 2022
Dear Middletown Parents and Guardians,
I would like to take this opportunity to provide some factual pieces of information to the events that transpired on Wednesday, January 26th at the Middletown Area High School. At approximately 11:01 a.m., there was a fight that broke out during a scheduled lunch period. In an effort to get the situation under control, the high school assistant principal and the District School Resource Officer (SRO) needed to intervene due to the escalating nature of the situation. Both of these individuals regularly monitor all lunch periods. During the 3-minute confrontation, the SRO deployed his taser on one of the students involved in the fight. Several videos and images of what happened yesterday are circulating on social media. These images do not represent the universal values that the Middletown Area School District strives to instill in our student body. They also don’t reflect on the staff who are employed to support our students on a daily basis.
The school district also understands that hearing about, witnessing, or actually being tased in school is very concerning. The school environment should be one of excitement and joy where students are provided a proper place to learn, grow, and prosper. The Middletown Area School District is committed to making sure we move forward from this event. We will continue to strive to make sure our schools are places where students don’t have to worry about random acts of violence by evaluating our current safety protocols and procedures.
Dr. Chelton Hunter
Superintendent of Schools