ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Newly released numbers from the Issaquah Police Department show there has been a 350% increase in juvenile fights since the start of August compared with the same time period a year ago. Police said many of the instances involved juveniles in middle school.

According to the data, between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15, Issaquah officers took 18 reports of juveniles being involved in fights. That compares to four incidents in the corresponding time period in 2023. Police noted that each report was among groups of juveniles in a public setting in the city of Issaquah.

Regarding the findings, investigators said officers consistently see clusters of calls reporting juvenile fighting at the beginning of a school year. They added that most reports of fight-related activity come from adult witnesses, concerned parents, or other students.

Additionally, police noted that 72% of reported fights occurred in the hours after school ends for the day, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and are often reported to occur around school properties and within a few blocks of Issaquah schools.

KOMO News learned the increase in juvenile fights was the subject of an Oct. 3 memo from the principal of Issaquah Middle School. In a letter to parents, Mark Jergens-Zmuda noted that his educators had seena spike in students fighting, as well as fights being recorded by onlookers. To combat this,Jergens-Zmuda said several grade-level assemblies had been held focusing on school-wide expectations, safety protocols, and conflict resolution.

Additionally, he reminded parents of several campus regulations, including a rule where students are mandated to be seated for the first 15 minutes of lunch. He also said students would no longer be able to gather outside on a nearby hill after school, which was the site of several fights.

"School safety is paramount, and some measures have been put in place," he wrote. "Ensuring a safe and supportive school environment is our top priority."

In order to clamp down on fighting, he also stated that Issaquah Middle School is seeking parent volunteers to help supervise the school's lunch period or to assist before and after school.

In a statement to KOMO News, the Issaquah School District wrote the following:

"Schools across the country have student altercations, and our district does as well... we take every instance of student altercations seriously, and investigate them in accordance with Washington state law as well as Issaquah School District policies and regulations. Student privacy laws do not allow us to share specific information about individual instances of altercations, the students involved, or discipline. As always, we are working with students, staff and families to support our students. We appreciate the partnership of our staff, families and community members."