Several students at Bethesda’s Walt Whitman High School are expected to be face consequences after a “physical altercation” occurred Wednesday in a hallway, resulting in a video posted to social media, according to a community letter from Principal Gregory Miller.
A video posted on social media that was sent to MoCo360 by a Whitman community member shows at least two students repeatedly punching, kicking and stomping on another student who is, at some points, lying on the ground attempting to protect themselves by covering their face and head with their arms.
According to Miller’s community letter, the physical altercation involved several students. The letter doesn’t state whether the student on the ground was injured in the fight. MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez said Thursday night the district had no other information to provide about the incident.
“Our school staff, administration, and security teams responded promptly to intervene,” Miller’s letter said. “The matter has been reported to the Montgomery County Police Department and an investigation is currently underway.”
In an email to MoCo360, county police spokesperson Shiera Goff said officers were dispatched to the school, but the situation was deescalated before community engagement officers arrived.
According to a memorandum of understanding between police and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), “this is not considered a criminal matter—it was simply a fight,” Goff said. “Any disciplinary action will be handled by MCPS.”
According to Miller’s letter, other students were guided away from the incident and dismissal was not impacted. The students involved will receive consequences according to the MCPS Student Code of Conduct, Miller wrote.
“I would like to reiterate that the safety of our students and staff is our priority at Walt Whitman High School,” Miller said. “Our school is committed to ensuring that every student feels valued and respected. Behavior that undermines this principle will not be tolerated, and students who engage in such conduct may be held accountable under the MCPS Code of Conduct.”
Video posting could be “serious” conduct code infraction
According to the conduct code, depending on the severity, an attack on a student or a fight can lead to a range of behavior interventions from those classified as level one, which includes detention, writing an apology or talking to a counselor to level five, which includes long-term suspension and expulsion.
For example, physically attacking a student by intentionally shoving, pushing or being physically aggressive can be considered an infraction ranging from level one to four. Physically attacking an MCPS student in a way that results in major injuries or is especially serious can be a level three through level five infraction.
In an October meeting with the County Council public safety and education committees, Peter Moran, MCPS chief of schools, said Superintendent Thomas Taylor believes that recording and posting videos of fights on social media is a serious infraction. Doing so falls under the “disruption to school operations” infraction in the student code of conduct, Moran said, and could be disciplined up to a level five infraction, which removes students from school for an extended period.
“It is something that escalates things out into the community. It causes an incredible amount of anxiety and also makes it very difficult to go through the restorative justice process,” Moran said at the meeting. “So, we’re definitely moving in a place where we’re handling those in a much more serious matter.”
