KEYMAR, Md. — Three students were arrested after a large fight broke out at a Carroll County school yesterday evening.
Students at Silver Oak Academy - which serves teens in the foster-care system with severe mental-health needs - "were overtaking the campus," in Keymar, said the Sheriff's Office.
Chaos began after a staff member was injured in an altercation with a 13-year-old student, at about 5:35 p.m. Feb. 13.
Other students began fighting, armed "with fire extinguishers, rocks, and chair legs," according to the initial information the Sheriff's Office received.
Deputies arrested three students aged 13, 14 and 17 - one of whom is also accused of attacking and injuring someone else earlier that day.
Silver Oak Academy had just reopened this past fall, with a new operational model, after being shut down.
The Department of Juvenile Services reported in 2023:
Due to concerns about staff supervision issues, youth safety, and problems within the education department at Silver Oak, all residential youth placed through DJS were removed from the program in May of 2022 and new admissions to the program through DJS have been indefinitely halted.
The school was allowed to have 96 students at that time; it now can house up to 24 teen boys with trauma-related mental-health needs.
The Sheriff's Office noted that "this is the second large scale fight within the last 14 days, and there have been 8 reported assaults (including the two from yesterday) since the beginning of September, 2024."
