After student stabbed, NJ superintendent chides parents for discussing online

MANALAPAN — A student at a Monmouth County high school stabbed a classmate in the head with a pen on Thursday .

Police said a 15-year-old male sophomore stabbed a 16-year-old male sophomore as they walked in a hallway between classes at Manalapan Township High School around 12:45 p.m. The 15-year-old was arrested and taken to police headquarters where he was charged with aggravated assault and taken to the Middlesex County Youth Detention Facility.

The 16-year-old was released to his parents.

The identities of the students was not disclosed by police due to their age. Police did not say what triggered the incident.

The Freehold Regional High School District's six high schools reported 82 incidents of violence in 2014 and 62 in 2015, the most recent years for which data is available.

District spokeswoman Rebecca Policastro said that the school has been working with police in the investigation and that "disciplinary consequences have been imposed against those involved" but could not specify. "The Freehold Regional High School District's number one priority is the safety of its students," Policastro wrote.

As discussion about the incident spread on social media Thursday, Superintendent Charles Sampson tweeted that it was not the place to discuss it.

"As parents we need to make sure we keep our communication appropriate. Facebook is not the place to discuss school concerns," Sampson tweeted.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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