Where is that wonderful PR firm? Probably working very hard to bury the info and suppress it from getting to the press. Another pat on the back for TRANSPARENCY!

For the record, Dan has called the police, the superintendent and the district's PR firm, and has not received a return call. He's trying to get the info.

I never went to either high school and hold no allegiance to either Hills or Valley.

It's this kind of mob mentality mass hysteria that demonstrates why such restrictive rules and procedures have to be in effect. Just because it wasn't reported and judgment has not yet been passed doesn't mean that conduct and bullying codes won't be enforced. Clearly, all discipline is reactive and in our system, has to be meted out after sorting it all out. Doesn't mean that discipline of some sort that we won't hear about hasn't happened. The only reason the WH Gang of 9 story became so big is because the story got out and NO ONE seemed to do anything about it, not at the school or at the parental level. The added sensationalism of the state championship caliber gang (er, I mean team) was what made it newsworthy. Fights are fights and boys still have to have an outlet to be boys, but anytime it's not a fair fight like 3 against 1 or 9 against 2, it evolves into criminal activity. I'm sure punishment will be meted out, whether we hear about it or not. Frankly, unless you are parents of the combatants/bullies/criminals or the victims, or are the administrators who have to deal with these slugs, it's really not our concern. Stop the hysteria.

Fyi, this was the response from the board's PR firm:

"As a matter of policy, we cannot comment on the matter."

When we tried to get the super, we were forwarded another statement from the PR firm:

"With the school year concluding, I believe it's appropriate to reaffirm Wayne Public Schools' strong commitment to all student-related codes of conduct, including the revised athletic code of conduct introduced in March. In order to ensure that our students feel safe and secure in our schools at all times, we will adhere to the specific dictates of these codes and apply discipline as prescribed whenever necessary and with complete impartiality."

We're still trying. Dan is writing something up now for me to look at.

It's probably not being swept under the rug, but for legal reasons the school probably needs to refrain from comment or judgment at this time. The best this publication could do is some investigative reporting and find out what "allegedly" happened according to "sources" and go from there. Clearly, we won't get anything out of the school, which is probably appropriate given that minors are involved and it's a pending matter. This also happened in the WH Gang of 9 matter where the names were never released and the school never passed public judgment or substantive comment.