Glendale students stage walkout over canceled homecoming game

GLENDALE (FOX 11 / CNS) - Dozens of Hoover High School students staged a walkout Monday as they demanded answers from the school district about why last week's homecoming football game was scrubbed -- the fourth game to be canceled since a massive brawl on the campus earlier this month.

The students gathered on the front steps of the school at 651 Glenwood Road, then marched to the Glendale Unified School District offices, under the watch of school administrators and police.

"We're basically wanting a full, truthful statement from the district basically stating ... the real reason why they went ahead and canceled our homecoming game,'' student Britney Morena told news outlets.

Questions have abounded about the district's investigation into the Oct. 3 brawl, which allegedly involved multiple members of the football team. Reports from the campus initially suggested the brawl, which was captured on cell phone video, involved athletes and members of the school's large Armenian community.

GUSD Superintendent Winfred B. Roberson Jr. told reporters said the fight appeared to have grown from an earlier altercation.

"Well, it first started off as just a few students fighting a few days beforehand, we found out, and then ... it grew to (the involved students) calling their friends, and it got a little bigger,'' he told news outlets.

School board member Greg Krikorian told news outlets the most recent game was canceled "because there was not enough players to safely play,'' and also said that some players may have planned to boycott the game.

District officials also told reporters that there was no outside threat to the game, but suggested CIF rules about potentially unsafe conditions for the players contributed to the decision.

According to news outlets, the district made a robocall to parents last week, saying, "We will not run the risk of hosting an event with threats of disruption that potentially puts all involved at risk.''

District officials spoke to the students involved in the walkout for about 20 minutes. The district provided buses to take the students back to campus, although not all students returned to the school.