South Fulton County

Banneker High School to install 10 new security officers after stabbing

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Two metro Atlanta teenagers are facing criminal charges after a stabbing at Banneker High School Wednesday.

Now, administrators want more security and more of a police presence at the school.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in South Fulton County Thursday, where parents said there are problems that need to be addressed. The problem is that they don’t agree on how to address them.

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“We have to know what’s going on outside of the schools to get a hold of what’s going on in the schools,” parent Tabitha Boyce said.

Boyce’s family has a legacy of graduating from Banneker High School. She said the stabbing, which sent two students to the hospital, does not define the other 1,500 kids who attend the school.

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She said there’s clearly a problem that starts outside of the high school’s doors: Gangs.

“This community faces a lot of challenges,” Boyce said. “We have a lot of transitional kids that attend Banneker. We have some homelessness. There are issues that are not culturally exclusive to Banneker, but they’re here you know? And we have to address those things. We have to meet people where they are.”

Fulton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney is asking the board to hire ten more people to monitor security at Banneker. He wants more of a police presence and restrictive movement for students, which means they’ll only be able to congregate in class.

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“The answer is not more police. The answer is not the idea of restricted movement,” Boyce said. “That concerns me, and that concerns the parents here. That concerns these kids.”

Boyce said Looney needs to come down and have a conversation with parents.