Woburn school leaders outline response after student raises safety concerns at high school

Woburn Public Schools leaders said they are increasing on-site supervision, sharpening investigative procedures and expanding restorative supports at Woburn Memorial High School after students and community members raised safety and harassment concerns at recent meetings.

Superintendent Matthew Crowley told the School Committee he had met with the student who spoke earlier and that the district is treating the report with urgency. "I wanna echo first a lot of what's been already said about the student who spoke last week and how brave that was," Crowley said, adding the district must "create an environment where students feel safe to come to us with things and parents feel safe to come to us with things because we do investigate everything that comes our way."

Administrators gave specific counts and described where incidents have occurred. Assistant Principal Ed McGuire said, "there's been 16 fights in the school this year," and that the majority of physical incidents have happened in bathrooms, hallways and the cafeteria. McGuire said many conflicts, when investigated, could be traced back to social media…