A Saint-Jérôme high school suspends 78 students after a day of disorder

École polyvalente Saint-Jérôme, Quebec

78 students suspended

The Centre de services scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord, the local school service centre, suspended 78 students of the École polyvalente Saint-Jérôme until Friday.

What happened on Friday

• Chaos and running at lunch
• Garbage cans thrown
• Crowd surges inside the school
• Fire alarm set off at day's end

On Oct 16, after a call to mobilize by some students, pupils ran through the school at lunch, threw garbage cans and caused crowd surges, and the fire alarm was set off at the end of the day.

Staff reviewed video recordings on Monday, a day without classes called in a hurry, to identify every student involved; more suspensions could follow.

“The intention, I think, was really to disrupt classes, that's clear.”

— René Brisson, director general of the school service centre

Classes resumed Tuesday with security guards and a stronger police presence at the school of more than 3,400 students, and many parents kept their children at home.