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GREENSBORO — Guilford County Schools administrators have not yet determined what punishment awaits students involved in a Friday morning melee at Grimsley High School, according to a spokeswoman.

What can be done to control students? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

Four days after a fight disrupted activities at Grimsley, school officials say they are still investigating the facts.

Haley Miller, a spokeswoman for Guilford County Schools, said in an e-mailed statement that those findings will determine the actions school administrators take with students who were involved.

So far, two students have been arrested and charged and 14 have been suspended from school.

Other than Monday's e-mailed statement, Guilford schools officials had no comment on the fight.

Police are also still investigating the disturbance, and Greensboro Police Sgt. D.J. Davis said more criminal charges are likely.

Grimsley principal Kevin Fleming said Monday that a meeting is being set up with community leaders to address various issues. Fleming couldn't specify which leaders would be involved and referred questions to Mack McCary, the district's chief academic officer.

Phone messages to McCary were not returned on Monday.

Several school board members say that some of the issues that led to incidents such as last week's fight are broad and defy simple resolution.

Board member Walter Childs said that many of the students involved come out of poverty. "They fight because they don't have the same kinds of things other kids have," he said.

Schools can't handle the problems alone, he said.

To combat those issues, Childs said, a number of things need to happen: Better jobs are needed to fight poverty; More role models are needed; More recreation facilities and programs are needed.

Board member Kris Cooke also cited a need for more programs that give children alternatives to getting into trouble. "You've just got to be innovative," she said.

Fights have always taken place at schools, she said. But kids used to know they would get in trouble when they got home.

The fights aren't just a problem for those involved, Cooke said. They also disrupt the learning process for others.

"I think it's a terrible distraction," she said. "Kids get upset, parents get upset ... It's a distraction for the teachers."

The School Climate Task Force, which includes community, law enforcement and school system representatives, is examining how the district deals with student behavior problems. The group is scheduled to report back to the school board early next year.

For their part, police try to keep conflicts that begin elsewhere from spilling into the school day, Davis said. Davis supervises all of Greensboro's school resource officers.

"Our resource officers stay in contact with field officers," Davis said. "Even community members tell us what might have taken place in the neighborhood."

Davis said when officers in the neighborhoods find out about conflicts, they pass the message along to school resource officers and decide whether additional police are necessary at a school.

"We try to be as proactive as we can," Davis said.

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or jhardin@news-record.com

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or selmquist@news-record.com