Eleven school days into the new academic year, North College Hill City Schools has already scheduled 11 expulsion hearings for fighting — a pace that pushed Superintendent Dr. Eugene Blalock to record a direct appeal to parents, warning that he does not want to see another student killed.
Blalock posted the video message to the school district's Facebook page, according to WLWT. In it, he urged parents to keep their kids safe, to talk with them and know where they are and what they're doing, and to work through conflict resolution at home rather than letting disputes escalate into violence. The plea comes as the district works through what Blalock describes as a violent start to the school year.
The superintendent's warning carries a name attached to it: Ja'Cier Davis, a former North College Hill High School student who was killed after a shooting in Mt. Healthy, per the same WLWT report. Blalock has said he does not want another student to be killed, framing the 11 scheduled hearings as evidence that the pattern needs to stop now, not later in the year.
How Expulsions Actually Work in Ohio
Each of those 11 hearings falls under Ohio Revised Code Section 3313.66, which gives a school district superintendent sole administrative authority to expel a student for up to 80 school days for violent or disruptive acts, provided the district issues written notice and holds a formal hearing, according to Ohio law. The state also requires districts to report these incidents in a specific way: the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce mandates that public schools log “Fighting/Violence” under student discipline code 03 whenever a mutual physical altercation results in an out-of-school suspension or expulsion.
This is not North College Hill's first brush with disciplinary chaos tied to student conflict. In February, more than 100 North College Hill High School students staged a walkout that escalated into property damage at a local Kroger, an incident Hoodline previously reported required Blalock to coordinate directly with city police on both school discipline and criminal accountability. A year earlier, in August 2025, North College Hill police arrested adults who were caught on video allegedly encouraging students to fight during an off-campus altercation, according to WLWT — a pattern that appears to inform Blalock's insistence that accountability starts at home.
A Lockdown Before the Ink Dried on the School Year
The current school year didn't open quietly, either. During its first week, North College Hill City Schools went into lockdown following a neighborhood disturbance near school property, the district said. Blalock has argued publicly that while families often point fingers at schools or police when discipline problems arise, personal accountability and conflict resolution “start at home.”
Blalock brings more than three decades in education to that message, and he also serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for NAMI Southwest Ohio, according to the mental health advocacy group. City officials have also moved to address youth conflict beyond the classroom: the North College Hill Police Department launched targeted patrols across neighborhoods, parks, and commercial areas in spring 2026 aimed at youth outreach and proactive crime prevention, per the City of North College Hill.
A District Already Stretched Thin
The disciplinary surge lands on a district with far fewer people to manage it. North College Hill City Schools eliminated 18 teaching positions and five educational aide positions in May due to state funding cuts, prompting district leaders to place a 1.25% Earned Income Tax Levy on the November 3 ballot — a financial squeeze Hoodline detailed in May. For the current academic year, the district reported a $6.66 million state funding gap under Ohio's modified Fair School Funding Plan, receiving just $1.76 million of an allocated $8.42 million.
Fewer teachers and aides mean fewer adults available to intervene before conflicts reach the level of a formal expulsion hearing, leaving the district leaning more heavily on the strict disciplinary tools Ohio law provides. With 11 hearings already on the calendar after just 11 days of class, Blalock's plea to parents reads less like routine messaging and more like an urgent request for help he says the district cannot provide alone.
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