Fights are breaking out almost every school day near Carver Middle School once the dismissal bell rings, and parents in Orlando's Washington Park neighborhood say they are running out of patience waiting for someone to fix it. One mother has recorded three separate altercations in the last five school days, all within a block of the campus on Columbia Street, and she is warning that the pattern will end in tragedy if nothing changes.
Janacha Ford told WFTV she is afraid a student could get seriously hurt, or worse. According to the station's report, Ford said she is concerned someone might die if the fighting continues unchecked. She has urged other families to get involved, asking parents to help find a solution and to start picking their children up directly from school rather than letting them walk home through the surrounding blocks.
Who Is Actually in Charge Once the Bell Rings
Part of what frustrates Ford and other parents is confusion over who is responsible for students the moment they leave school property. Carver Middle School's resource officers are Orlando police officers who watch over the campus itself, but per the same WFTV account, those officers cannot police the surrounding neighborhood once students step off school grounds — that area falls under Orange County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction. WFTV said it reached out to both law enforcement and Orange County Public Schools and is still working to determine what can be done to keep students safe, as well as who bears responsibility for them after the final bell; the outlet says it plans to update the story as more information comes in.
That split in authority is not just a matter of confusing paperwork. Under Florida Statute § 1006.12, School Resource Officers are certified law enforcement officers whose primary authority is tied to district school board property, meaning coverage of the public streets just beyond a campus requires regular municipal police or county sheriff patrols unless a formal mutual aid agreement is in place. That statutory framework helps explain the exact jurisdictional gap parents are describing during dismissal at Carver Middle.
A School With a History of Dismissal Violence
This is not the first time violence at dismissal has put Carver Middle School in the spotlight. In December 2021, two teenagers from a nearby private school were arrested — including a 13-year-old charged with attempted murder — after gunshots were fired during an off-campus altercation near the school on Columbia Street, according to ClickOrlando. That shooting prompted community town halls and demands for more off-campus security around the school, which sits at 4500 W. Columbia Street in the Washington Park neighborhood and enrolls roughly 540 to 640 students in grades six through eight, a student body that is about 85% Black and 13% Hispanic, per Niche.
The city responded to the 2021 shooting with money, not just meetings. Orlando City Commissioner Bakari Burns secured $600,000 in city funding in November 2022 to launch a Safety Coaches program at Carver Middle and four other middle schools, placing non-police personnel trained in de-escalation on campuses to curb student violence, ClickOrlando reported at the time. The city has kept investing since: in September 2024, the Orlando City Council approved a contract renewal for a Lead Student Advocate at Carver Middle as part of its My Brother's Keeper youth mentorship initiative, according to city council records.
Discipline Still Applies, Even Off Campus
Even though street-level policing near the school is split between agencies, the school district itself retains authority to act. The Orange County Public Schools Code of Student Conduct explicitly allows district administrators to discipline students for off-campus behavior in the community if that conduct affects the district or other OCPS students. That means school suspensions or reassignments remain possible even when it is unclear which police agency has jurisdiction over a given block.
The safety concerns come against a backdrop of academic strain at the school as well. During the 2024–2025 Florida Department of Education FAST assessment cycle, Carver Middle recorded student proficiency rates of just 35% in reading and 42% in math, per Niche — numbers that add context to an already difficult environment for students and staff alike.
Part of a Broader Pattern Across Orange County
Carver Middle's dismissal fights fit into a wider, troubling pattern across Orange County Public Schools this year. In May, 11 Wekiva High School students were arrested after a violent off-campus beatdown at a neighborhood bus stop that grew out of a dispute that began during the school day. And in November 2025, an Orange County 15-year-old with 39 prior OCPS disciplinary infractions faced adult manslaughter charges after a hallway dispute at school escalated into a fatal shooting at a nearby park, Hoodline previously reported.
Those cases underscore what is at stake if dismissal-time conflicts near Carver Middle go unresolved. The pattern comes even as citywide violence has trended downward: the Orlando Police Department reported a 35% reduction in homicides and a 25% drop in victim-involved shootings in 2025 compared with the year before. For now, parents like Ford are left watching the corner near Columbia Street each afternoon, hoping the next fight does not turn into the tragedy they fear.
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