UPDATED: Police Presence Increasing At Framingham High After 'Rising Tensions'

Originally posted on May 18. Updated on May 19 with quotes from Police Department.

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Police presence will be increased at Framingham High School, following a fight involving 10 students at the school Monday afternoon.

This morning, parents saw three cruisers when they dropped off students to school, as did students getting off buses.

The ”display is to show we are there as a resource,” said Framingham Police Lt. Stephen Cronin.

Yesterday, four students in total were injured in the “altercation,” said Framingham High School Principal Elyse Torbert, who emailed parents about the incident about 5 p.m. Monday, May 18.

Three of the students “sustained superficial injuries” and one student was transported to the hospital for “evaluation,” said Torbert. The student was evaluated for a head would, said Lt. Cronin.

Torbert said the names of the 10 students involved in the ‘fight’ were given to Framingham police.

She wrote to parents “Though we have already determined school discipline for this event, we will continue to work closely with the police to prevent this incident from escalating any further. There will be increased police presence in the building and in the community.”

Torbert explained to parents “Over the past several weeks at Framingham High School, there have been rising tensions between two groups of students. Despite the efforts of many teachers and the administrative team in concert with the police, there was a very public physical altercation that involved numerous students during dismissal today. ”

“There is no evidence it is gang related,” said Lt. Cronin.

“Our goal in being at the school is to keep things from getting worse,” said Lt. Cronin, who added the investigation thus far has shown things are “not getting worse.”

Lt. Cronin said the investigation is ongoing and at this time he does not know if there will be any criminal charges. He said all involved are juveniles.

“The safety and well-being of our students is and will always remain our highest concern,” said Torbert.

Framingham Superintendent Stacy Scott echoed that statement when he spoke about the ”altercation at the high school” at Monday night’s School Committee meeting.

He said the district wants to make sure students are safe and parents are informed.

Scott said the district would be working to “curtail the conflict” and “listening to make sure the needs of the students” are heard.

Lt. Cronin said Framingham Police Chief Ken Ferguson and Scott talked.

The Police department is assisting in “finding out what the problem is,” said Lt. Cronin. “And assisting the schools in working out a non-violent solution.”