No teachers were involved in a fight with CedarBridge students on November 17, Government revealed in the Senate yesterday.

Accusing The Royal Gazette of "erroneous reporting", Government Sen. Walter Roban said a story which ran in the newspaper on November 24 reported that CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards was injured during one of the punch-ups the week before.

A source also said that a CedarBridge teacher may have been sent to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after attempting to break up a fight, while another teacher was hit in the face during the melee.

Another incident took place when a student went into a classroom and threw books around and was asked to leave by a teacher, The Royal Gazette was told. The student then knocked the teacher down and stepped on her while leaving the classroom.

However, Sen. Roban said yesterday: "There were no fights between teachers and students on Wednesday, November 17."

"There was no requirement for Ms Richards to intervene, no teachers or members of the student management team went to the hospital, and no injuries were received," he added.

There was one "incident" involving a confrontation between a "destructive student" and another student, he said. The destructive student was asked by a teacher to leave the classroom and go to the principal's office. That student complied with the teacher's request.

A statement from the Ministry of Education included in the story on November 24 confirmed a fight did take place.

That afternoon Education Minister Terry Lister and Ministry officials met with school staff and gave them an opportunity to voice their concerns, the statement said, continuing: "The altercation is under active investigation and no further comment will be forthcoming. The matter will be dealt with in accordance with the Code of Conduct along with the recommendations that came from the school's principal."

Last night Mr. Lister reiterated that there were no fights with teachers and no teachers sent to the hospital, though there were fights among students.

He will be making a statement during tomorrow's session at the House of Assembly to address the incident and the general state of behaviour at the school.

Students at CedarBridge, Sen. Roban said, reflect the challenges faced by all of Bermuda's young people, and no particular attention should be paid to the school.

There was an eight-member educational therapy team and six counsellors in place at CedarBridge, he said.