Photo by puddlegal9

DC Public Schools is staggering the dismissal times of two high schools in hopes of deterring fights between students at rival campuses. Beginning Monday, McKinley Technology High School students will be leave at 3:05 p.m., and Dunbar High School students will exit at 3:25 p.m, according to DCPS. The change of dismissal times affect each school’s start times by 10 minutes.

The decision was made with input from both schools’ leaders, according to Michelle Lerner of DCPS. “And we are working with the parent, teacher, and student associations at both schools,” she said, adding that “we are committed to fostering a learning environment where students feel safe and secure both in school and to-and-from school.”

Dunbar, in Northwest, and McKinley Tech, in Northeast, are both about a 15 minute walk to the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro station. This stop was the site of a brawl last week that brought together about 100 students, according to a witness.

A woman alleged that students from each high school scheduled the fight that was described as “madness.” One woman decided to express her concern by responding to a DCPS tweet.

@dcpublicschools @DunbarHSDC I wish that some Dunbar students would stop showing up to fight McKinley students!

— Theodora H. Brown (@thebrownlawyer) April 12, 2016