Brawl leaves 35 Tulsa students facing suspension

Friday, February 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Extra security was in place today after a brawl that involved more than 30 students and some parents at a Tulsa high school. Pepper spray was used to subdue the group after the fight began about 11 a.m. Thursday at Central High School, officials said. No one was seriously injured or arrested.

The fight was a result of ongoing tensions from an earlier brawl in the fall between three boys at a Tulsa park, said John Hamill, school spokesman. "It's something that's been simmering and simmering and simmering," he said.

The incident started after a fight Wednesday when about 30students were asked to leave the school and not return until parent conferences could be conducted, said Principal Nilda Reyes.

Some of the students arrived with their parents as scheduled Thursday, but others showed up alone, Reyes said. When one family was leaving the principal's office, they began fighting with another family. Others students and some parents joined in, Reyes said. "There was a ninth-grader fighting a grown-up," said one Central student, who asked not to be named.

At least part of the fight took place in the cafeteria while students were eating. The cafeteria was cleared when a Tulsa police officer used pepper spray.

Additional officers escorted the group out of the school. "All of these other people come and hang out in front of the building -- cousins, uncles. They wanted to come in and beat up the parents and kids who were here," Reyes said. The 35 students who were involved will face immediate discipline, she said. "Overall the students are real, real good," Reyes said. "It'sjust a handful that can really stir stuff up."