'Chaotic' scene at N.B. high school as parents take kids home due to safety concerns

Parents of Oromocto High School students say it was a "chaotic" scene at the school as families streamed in to pull their kids out of school on Thursday.

They say nerves are on edge following a vicious brawl Tuesday that saw one teen arrested, followed by a warning of a "potential for violence" at Fredericton High School that saw police officers patrolling the hallways throughout the day Thursday.

Many parents in Oromocto said they kept their kids home from school Thursday, while others showed up mid-morning to take them home after hearing of the situation in nearby Fredericton and fearing a similar situation could be brewing at the Oromocto school.

Later in the day, parents were informed that in fact Oromocto had received the same warning of potential violence. 

Oromocto parent Tarra Patriquin said she arrived to pick up her two daughters and found a "chaotic" scene at the school.

"When we arrived, there were parents everywhere," she said. "By the time we left the school, the parking lot had filled up and parents were scrambling to get their kids."

Patriquin said she'd had misgivings about sending her kids to school at all Thursday after the violent fight at the school earlier this week.

But after hearing news of the police patrols at Fredericton High School, she said she decided to "err on the side of caution" and bring her daughters home for the day.

Samantha Gardner, who has two daughters at Oromocto High School, said she pulled both girls out of the school Thursday after hearing about what was happening in Fredericton – and doesn't plan to send them back at all.

Gardner said she's fed up with the recurring fights and violence among the school's students, and that she doesn't think the school or the district is doing enough to curb it.

They "don't seem to care about our kids," Gardner said. "I'm taking my kids out of this school ... and looking into online schooling."

Anglophone West School District communications director Jennifer Read said she did not have the student absence count for Oromocto High School.

"However, we do know that many students signed out of school today," she said in an email.

Later Thursday afternoon, Oromocto High School principal Kevin Inch confirmed in an email to parents that the school had also received a warning of "potential" violence at the school.