8 girls arrested after school fight

Disciplinary problems are down overall at East High School this year, but a series of fights Tuesday bucked the trend.

Eight girls were arrested stemming from the physical confrontations that may have been sparked by a lunch time fight between two girls, Rockford Police Sgt. Michael Spelman said.

A short time later, a girl broke a cafeteria window. Then, two girls allegedly hit a police officer while being escorted to administrative offices after a brewing confrontation among three girls had been broken up.

In all, five girls were arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct, one for criminal damage to property and two for aggravated battery for striking a police officer.

Chief Operating Officer Earl Hernandez said these were average kids from whom he would not expect this kind of behavior. He said no one was injured in the fights.

Disciplinary referrals had been down about 18 percent at East through the first quarter of the year, dropping from 1,903 last year to 1,563 this year, according to information from the Rockford School District.

"We'll go weeks and weeks and not have an issue," Hernandez said. "Then in one day we will go from one couple to another couple to another couple. In this particular instance, it was all girls. It boggles my mind to see these young ladies acting like that."

Staff writer Jeff Kolkey can be reached at 815-987-1374 or at jkolkey@rrstar.com.