Police patrol the halls and specialists counsel students on the first school day following Friday’s campus melee.
About half of the students said the brawling was prompted by their peers — bored with school and ready to ignite, said intervention specialist Holly Priebe-Diaz.
Other students, she said, blamed ongoing racial tensions and gang problems. Historically black Watts has changed rapidly to a Latino-majority community, with gangs of both ethnicities claiming overlapping turf in the economically depressed streets. Locke’s student body is about 65% Latino and 35% African American.
“This is a microcosm of something bigger happening in the community,” Priebe-Diaz said.