A raucous food fight and student scuffle at DeWitt Clinton High School last month has brought some bad press to the large, century-old institution on the Mosholu Parkway.

Police were called to the school on Oct. 1 after fights broke out in the morning during a change of period, said Department of Education spokeswoman Marge Feinberg.

School staff was low that day because of a severe rainstorm, and while no arrests were made, eight students received disorderly conduct notices and “one student who had an emotional outburst was treated at a local hospital,” Feinberg said.

Since the incident, The Riverdale Press ran a series of stories on safety problems at the school. A Facebook group called “I survived DeWitt Clinton 10/1/10,”—which had 688 members at press time—has turned the day into one of infamy.

But local police and DOE administrators say that, besides severe overcrowding — the school has over 4,000 students and is at 28 percent overcapacity — DeWitt Clinton is typical of most large city high schools in terms of safety, and is not a problem school.

“I don’t think they’ve ever had this sort of thing go on before,” said Marvin Shelton, president of the Community Education Council for School District 10. “These things are bound to happen once in a while. I don’t think it’s a dangerous environment, no more than any other school.”

Deputy Inspector John D’Adamo, the commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, said that other local high schools, like John F. Kennedy in Marble Hill (located in the 50th precinct, D’Adamo’s former command), are worse in terms of crime and violence.

Still, Clinton is experiencing an uptick in so-called “major crimes” (defined as the most serious offenses, like robbery, grand larceny and felony assault) this year.

The DOE’s website posts high school crime and safety statistics from the NYPD. According to the most recent data, Clinton had five incidents of major crimes during the 2008-2009 school year, which the NYPD reports as average for a school of its size.

This year, D’Adamo says there have already been four major crimes — three assaults and one instance of grand larceny involving a stolen credit card. In response, D’Adamo said they have beefed up the police presence at the school.

In 2008-2009, police were called 15 times in response to other, lesser offenses — which include things like sale of marijuana, petit larceny and misdemeanor assault — also an average number for a large school.

DeWitt Clinton had 85 non-criminal incidents during that school year, according to the NYPD, which is double the average number for other schools of the same size. “Non-criminal incidents” include offenses like disorderly conduct, trespassing and possession of marijuana.

One Clinton junior, who asked that her name not be used, said she has noticed an increase in security since the Oct. 1 incident. Police have been stationed outside the school and deans patrol the halls of each floor for loitering students.

The student described the events of that day as “hectic,” saying she witnessed a chaotic food fight in the lunchroom during first period.

“Rumors were going around afterwards, all these fights broke out. There’s like these little gangs in our school,” the 16-year-old said. “Supposedly somebody got hit with an umbrella. A rumor broke out that there was a gun.”

D’Adamo acknowledged that “there’s a bit of gang problem” at Clinton right now, but nothing that would set it apart from other schools of its size.

Students are scanned through metal detectors for weapons as they enter the building each morning, and everyone was scanned again on their way out on Oct. 1, according to the student, who added that she doesn’t generally worry about her safety at school.

“I feel safe,” she said. “Because nothing really happens.”

Several calls to DeWitt Clinton administrators were not returned by press time.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.