Police Called for Conflict at Drury

Print Story | Email Story
Updated with clarifications on Tuesday at 9:57 a.m.
 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — School officials say a police presence at Drury High School on Monday morning was related to a "verbal confrontation" between students stemming from an "incident" over the weekend. 
 
The high and middle school went into lockdown for a brief period as police and school administrators dealt with the problem. 
 
Superintendent Timothy Callahan provided the public schools' official statement, which was sent out to the school community.
 
On Tuesday, he said "It was an escalated verbal conflict, and staff intervened to ensure that it did not become a fight." He clarified there was no weapon brandished, a rumor that was circulating on Facebook. 
 
The statement on Monday did not detail the root of the conflict but said there will be consequences to the students' behavior
 
Good Morning Drury Staff, Students, and Families,
An incident in the community over the weekend led to a conflict prior to the start of school at Drury High School this morning between two or more high school students. School staff called for a "stay put" and then a brief "lockdown" to ensure that the confict was contained and addressed promptly. The North Adams Police also arrived on the scene to ensure the safety of everyone in the school.
 
School leaders will provide consequences to students involved in the conflict as outlined in our district-wide Code of Conduct, Character, and Support and also provide regular support for students to build pro-social behaviors and minimize incidents of verbal and physical escalation.
 
Unsafe actions will not be tolerated in our buildings, and we appreciate your support in ensuring that our focus can remain on classroom teaching and learning.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Q&A with State Representative Challenger Andrew Fitch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Sept. 1, voters in the First Berkshire District will decide whether they want to send a new representative to Beacon Hill in Boston.
 
Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary.
 
There is no Republican on the primary ballot for the First Berkshire seat so the primary will effectively be the election for the seat. 
 
The two candidates met for their only debate on Aug. 13 at Williams College. iBerkshires.com reached out to both candidates to follow up on some of the points raised in the debate and get their thoughts on some other issues facing the district.
 
Below are excerpts from a conversation with challenger Andrew Fitch:
 
Question: From the very beginning, you talked about the campaign as a listening experience, and this week you're continuing that with the bike tour …
 
Andrew Fitch: Knocking on doors that have never been knocked on before. … I was riding through, I believe it was Hinsdale coming into Windsor, and they started to yell at me, 'No!' And then the guy was like, 'Wait a second. That's Andrew Fitch.' They actually knew who I was, and they were actually wanting to chat with me.
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories