Six George Washington High School students were arrested last week following two lunchroom fistfights that school officials say arose when racial tensions boiled over between African-American and white students.

The incidents occurred on Monday, Jan. 8, about 30 minutes apart, said Sam Karlin, principal of the Bustleton Avenue high school. The first one began at about 11 a.m. with a bumping incident between a white male and a black male, he said. When the white student allegedly made a racial remark, the confrontation escalated.

"There was a fight and (other students) gathered around," Karlin said. "At first it started with two kids. I think five kids (all males) were involved totally.

"From the original incident, it turned into an assault, mostly as one kid was down and the others started kicking him."

According to Karlin, there were two whites and three blacks involved. The fallen student was white. No weapons were used. All five students were suspended from school for three days. Further school sanctions are possible, Karlin said, but had not been determined late last week.

"We will use the strongest disciplinary measures available to us, affording all of the kids due process," the principal said. "We have some suspension extension flexibility."

Meanwhile, the three black students were arrested by Philadelphia police, who arrived after the initial fight was broken up by school security officials. The three were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and ethnic intimidation, police said. School officials and police are withholding the names of those charged. Two of the three are minors.

According to Karlin, the three black students were singled out because they were determined to be the aggressors.

"The perception that they were treated differently certainly bothers me," Karlin said. "(But) on the school level, when you're seen as an aggressor you are treated differently."

About a half hour later, another altercation broke out during the same lunch period and involved four female students. This time, three black students attacked a white student, Karlin said. Again, no weapons were used.

"I'm sure there were racial overtones to the whole thing," Karlin said. "I think it was a leftover from the first incident."

The three alleged aggressors were suspended for three days and were arrested by Philadelphia police. They were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and ethnic intimidation, police said. The principal described the school disciplinary actions as "standard suspensions."

Still, the veteran administrator acknowledges that the ensuing racial tensions among the students have been anything but standard. There has not been a similar racially motivated incident at the school in at least three years, Karlin said.

In an effort to pre-empt further conflict, the 7th Police District has assigned officers to the school during afternoon dismissal time. Meanwhile, representatives of the Philadelphia Anti-Drug, Anti-Violence Network (PAAN) have mobilized to complement existing school security.

"They're around the building at dismissal time, helping kids leave the building safely," Karlin said.

Last Thursday, the principal said that tensions among students had subsided considerably from Monday afternoon. He said he had received no reports of additional race-based intimidation or altercations since the fights.

Meanwhile, school officials were consulting with the city's Human Relations Commission, the Philadelphia Police Department's conflict prevention and resolution unit and PAAN on anti-violence and pro-tolerance programming for the school's 3,000 students. No assemblies were held last week because of ongoing mid-term exams.

According to Margie Wright, desegregation coordinator for the school and a faculty adviser to the student-run Anti-Violence Coalition and Human Relations Council, some student members of both organizations have been emotionally affected by the Jan. 8 incidents.

"I had a couple in tears because they have worked so hard to create a (positive) environment in the school," Wright said.

There are about 200 total members of the two groups. Some students are in both organizations.

"They work throughout the year creating an atmosphere where students talk out their differences and not (resolve them) violently," Wright said. "What they're doing now is trying to ease tensions in the building."

According to Wright, members of the Human Relations Council are available each period in a school office to offer peer mediation services. In fact, she added, students can approach members of the council any time during the day in an informal setting.

"We deal with all conflicts on any level," Wright said.

Karlin, the principal, points out that students must learn to get along with each other.

"It (started with) a bumping thing in the lunchroom," he said. "With three-thousand kids in the building, you're going to have bumping."

On the other hand, the principal added, it didn't take long for that seemingly minor incident to become a schoolwide issue when racial and ethnic issues were brought into the equation.