We encourage parents and guardians to have conversations with their children about the inappropriate choice of violence and fighting, as well as the possible consequences. These conversations are vital in reinforcing the values we hold dear within our community.

Dear Montgomery County Families and Community Members,

As key leaders representing Montgomery County residents, we are writing to report on the actions taken following the recent fight that followed a high school football game in Bethesda this past Friday, September 1, and to reiterate our collective commitment to community safety.

Following the football game between Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High Schools, a physical altercation near the Bethesda Metro Station resulted in multiple student injuries. Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County Police immediately began a collaborative conversation.

The primary goal of this work is to determine precisely what occurred and to ensure that students involved will be held accountable. The memorandum of understanding with all community police partners very specifically outlines what actions may be addressed through school-based discipline and what is considered criminal activity.

Available evidence has been reviewed and we can confirm at this time that appropriate disciplinary action has been applied in alignment with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct . However, no students have been charged criminally, although the criminal investigation is ongoing.

The school district has always maintained comprehensive operational safety plans for each football game every week during the fall athletics season. Prior to the fall athletic season, MCPD and MCPS hold a collaborative meeting to discuss comprehensive operation safety plans for each football game. These meetings have helped create the tiered safety plan system that has been in place since 2022. MCPD and MCPS remain committed partners in ensuring school and community safety, and frequently discuss updates to these plans on a weekly basis.

The question has arisen, “How do we extend safety beyond the school campus?” This poses challenges but we are exploring a number of options along with our county security and police partners. Essentially, this involves monitoring by placing MCPS staff in key areas of our community following football games and messaging to our students that we and the community are watching.

Moving forward, we are taking the following actions to strengthen safety at all football games.

We utilize the resources that our Fall 2023 Athletics Safety Plan provides, which include actions such as:

Students must present a school ID
School-age spectators from other than the competing schools must be accompanied by an adult
Backpacks are not allowed and more.
The Athletics Safety Plan also allows for us to implement actions on an incremental basis. Therefore, effective this week, all varsity football games will operate with the following Tier 2 actions:

Spectator numbers will be limited to 75% of stadium capacity to assist with event management.
Individuals who engage in inappropriate behaviors may be excluded from postseason competition or suspended for multiple contests.
Game times/dates may be altered to provide more daylight and assist with event management.

If additional incidents occur, consistent with the decision guidelines in the safety plan, additional actions may be taken, including a shift to Tier 3 of the plan.

Also, Montgomery County Police have committed to assigning officers in identified areas of concern such as areas where students may gather after games.

This incident must serve as a teachable moment for our entire community. We must collectively reinforce the values of respect, tolerance, and resolving conflict through peaceful means. It is through an “All Together Now” understanding that we can ensure our students do not resort to violence as a means to resolve their differences. Collectively, we encourage parents and guardians to have conversations with their children about the inappropriate choice of violence and fighting, as well as the possible consequences. These conversations are vital in reinforcing the values we hold dear within our community.

As community leaders, we are dedicated to addressing this incident with the seriousness it deserves and ensuring that it serves as an opportunity for positive change. Together, we can strengthen the bonds that unite us and help our students grow into responsible, compassionate, and productive members of society.

In partnership,

Dr. Monifa B. McKnight
Superintendent of Schools

Marcus Jones
Chief, Montgomery County Police

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

What's a lifelong head trauma, possible seizures and debilitating brain injury, not to mention emotional trauma and PTSD, if it makes a couple dysfunctional kids do some reflecting after they curb stomped a kid? Totally fair trade (sarcasm, if that's not obvious. Whoever wrote that phrase is sick and totally lacking in empathy)

Nobody has a debilitating brain injury.

It’s a teachable moment to not fight. Not go towards s fight. Not stay at a fight going on. Learning to walk away from a fight is a teachable moment.

Seriously? Just a fight? What kind of kid fights by kicking and pummeling someone on the ground. Being kicked in the head is not how kids fight in the schools where I've worked. They know they'll be suspended or expelled.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

What's a lifelong head trauma, possible seizures and debilitating brain injury, not to mention emotional trauma and PTSD, if it makes a couple dysfunctional kids do some reflecting after they curb stomped a kid? Totally fair trade (sarcasm, if that's not obvious. Whoever wrote that phrase is sick and totally lacking in empathy)

Nobody has a debilitating brain injury.

It’s a teachable moment to not fight. Not go towards s fight. Not stay at a fight going on. Learning to walk away from a fight is a teachable moment.

Seriously? Just a fight? What kind of kid fights by kicking and pummeling someone on the ground. Being kicked in the head is not how kids fight in the schools where I've worked. They know they'll be suspended or expelled.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

What's a lifelong head trauma, possible seizures and debilitating brain injury, not to mention emotional trauma and PTSD, if it makes a couple dysfunctional kids do some reflecting after they curb stomped a kid? Totally fair trade (sarcasm, if that's not obvious. Whoever wrote that phrase is sick and totally lacking in empathy)

Nobody has a debilitating brain injury.

It’s a teachable moment to not fight. Not go towards s fight. Not stay at a fight going on. Learning to walk away from a fight is a teachable moment.

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

What's a lifelong head trauma, possible seizures and debilitating brain injury, not to mention emotional trauma and PTSD, if it makes a couple dysfunctional kids do some reflecting after they curb stomped a kid? Totally fair trade (sarcasm, if that's not obvious. Whoever wrote that phrase is sick and totally lacking in empathy)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Mooney sent another community message last night about the two investigations (by MCPS and the police). I thought the second sentence here was interesting:

“I also spoke directly to our students to recognize the impact events like this have on their feelings of personal safety and security, while also ensuring the students that the individuals who made the unacceptable choice to engage in the violence depicted on social media would be held accountable. Those who made the choice to video and post this behavior will also be held accountable as this adds to disruption and inappropriately celebrates violence.”

Without video, of course, it would be easier to sweep under the rug...

MCPS has been embarrassed and is lashing out.

The principal is right. It is truly despicable to record this type of thing and post it on social media. It is meant to humiliate and glorify violence as well as garner views. It has nothing to to with hiding anything. Some people have very twisted minds to think the principal means to hide anything when he states that kids shouldn't be recording this kind of thing and posting it on social media. Really twisted.

Both things are valid. It's awful to record someone's trauma or humiliation for the entertainment of others, but documenting this stuff also brings serious and real problems and crimes to light. So it's a double-edged sword.

I’m guessing that some kids were overwhelmed and knew they couldn’t stop it so started taping. This is what adults seem to do every time something dramatic happens in public. It’s not exactly unusual behavior.

Maybe let’s focus first on the violent kids who were stomping on other kids’ heads.

Seems like BCC never punishes those kids. Is there any update on identifying those kids? Charging them? Kicking them out of BCC?

Until then I can’t take the silly emails coming from the principal.

All this and when will the WJ kids be brought to the same justice.

Drunk, disorderly, fighting… embarrassing

It’s clear to both principals that the WJ kids were attacked. Go back and read their letters. Read the news reports about the racial slurs being changed from the BCC stands at WJ players and fans. I don’t think your both sides theory is going to play out.

Every single solitary news report says it was a fight. Not an assault a fight.

Now how much weight to you wanna give the “news reports”?

“assault” is a legal term. it is what the teens who were seen attacking kids on the video will be charged with. “fight” is a colloquial term.

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe
they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe they wrote "teachable moment" in the communication. It's really disrespectful to the students injured and traumatized

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12 pages of comments and feel the need to provide some actual facts: This was not a brawl, fight, or melee (as media is reporting). This was assault. This was a group of thugs laying in wait for unsuspecting WJ students so they could assault them. Use of thugs meaning violent, aggressive person, especially one who is a criminal. There were multiple assaults on multiple victims and multiple videos posted, not just the one viral group mob. These assaults were not because of the outcome of the football game. This wasn't rowdy WJ and BCC students exchanging words that ended in fist fights. This was groups of thugs, who used the game as a means to assault unsuspecting students while video tapping the assaults and posting them to social media. The assailants were from BCC and possibly some from other locations (but this is not confirmed yet). Some did not even attend the game and some were kicked out of the game (making them more fired up). There were several robberies committed that evening too. There were BCC students also assaulted by these thugs. There were students being chased by them and frantic calls to parents to be picked up. Some of the assailants had ski masks. They caused chaos in a wide urban area that the police (County and Metro) were not prepared for. There are WJ and BCC students who helped one another, tried to protect each other, and continue to reach out and support each other. There are students who ended up at the hospital. There is real student trauma and parent outrage at both schools. The assaults, batteries, robberies, chases, etc. seem random on their choice of victims, but premeditated in the sense the assailants knew they were prepared to cause harm and film it. There has been multiple BCC students suspended. It is still unclear whether, if any, criminal charges can be filed on any of the assailants who are under the age of 18 since Maryland, supposedly, has laws that makes criminal punishment difficult unless murder or rape is involved. I don't know anything about this law so I'm not stating this as fact.

Thank you for posting this. The WJ and BCC kids supporting each other sound like the kids I recognize.

I was going to come here to say that my child who attends BCC is friends with a gir (also a BCC student)l who was at the Chipotle with friends who attend WJ and was injured in the chaos as she tried to protect her friends. I also attended the game, where overall the students were well behaved and the school had clearly choreographed where everyone was sitting to keep the schools separate. This was pre-meditated acts of violence which included some kids who did not even attend the game but were looking to stir stuff up. It is upsetting and disgusting and I hope that the entire community doesn't pay for the actions of these kids by having games cancelled, moved, etc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
10:47 again.

I want to point out that the perpetrators might not actually be from either school! It's possible that on a Friay night before a long weekend, some violent youths may have laid in wait at the metro to target individuals or small groups. They exploited the fact that there was a game at BCC and that the metro station is close by.

So, with that thought in mind, I think we need to do our utmost to identify most of the perpetrators before we blame WJ or BCC kids, the football, the coaches, the principals, etc.

What we could do, regardless of who is responsible, is:
1. Schedule the game for a Saturday earlier in the day. In the past it's proven effective as a deterrent to violence.
2. Provide more police presence in and around the school, particularly at transport hubs.
3. Press charges against the violent youths and have sentencing be a serious deterrent. MCPS cannot be relied on to provide adequate consequences. This is a police matter.

I totally agree and I think they should immediately reschedule all of BCC's games to Saturday mornings. The rest of the county high schools should follow suit.