Five students cited after a student-parent fight breaks out at Wauwatosa East High School

Five students have been cited after an argument between a parent and a group of high school students turned physical at about 4 p.m. Tuesday at Wauwatosa East High School.

Principal Nick Hughes said the incident took place before a freshman basketball game.

As a student was restrained by Wauwatosa police "for refusing to follow instructions," Hughes said, the student's parent shoved a school administrator.

The students were cited for battery; additional citations may be issued as the incident is still under investigation, police said. The parent has not been cited, according to police.

"The behavior exhibited by these individuals is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Hughes said.

School administrators are finalizing the investigation and will consult with the Wauwatosa Police Department on next steps, he said.

All students involved will face discipline in accordance with the district's disciplinary framework, the principal said.

The framework spells out levels of punishment for discipline violations such as fighting. It covers six levels, with Level 1 being the lightest punishment of a conference/intervention at the building or classroom level and Level 6 being the most severe punishment of a recommendation of an expulsion hearing with the school board.

The disciplinary framework aims to cultivate a "welcoming, diverse, inclusive and accessible school cultures for all students and families," it says.

The fight is the latest in what has been a turbulent year for the Wauwatosa School District, where there have been fights between students both in and outside of schools:

• A fight at a Wauwatosa East football game Sept. 9, 2022, at Hart Park resulted in four people arrested for disorderly conduct.
• A fight Sept. 12, 2022, involved Wauwatosa West High School students outside a Starbucks near Center and Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa.
• Another fight broke out at Wauwatosa West two days later.

The fights have led the district to work to codify its relationship with its school resource officers and also increase security measures at Hart Park and Trojan Field. Those measures include providing one or two additional school resource officers on site, using more attendee supervisors, limiting what size bags are allowed in, not allowing re-entry and a rule saying attendees must leave within 15 minutes of a game's completion.

This is a developing story. Additional information will be added once it becomes available.

Reporter Alec Johnson contributed to this story.