By Bridget Manley, publisher
Two days after Rockingham County School Board member Matt Cross sparked controversy and pushback over his social media posts that included videos of students fighting in school, the fallout persists, while Cross doubled down on his post.
On Sunday, Cross posted two videos claiming to show students fighting in the bathroom of Rocktown High School in Harrisonburg. The videos did not blur the faces of those involved in the altercation, including what could have been underage students involved.
A petition is currently circulating in the community, urging residents to add their signatures to an open letter requesting the Rockingham County School Board to pass a formal resolution to censure Cross and calling on local elected and civic leaders to recognize a “pattern of misconduct.”
In the original post, Cross called the Harrisonburg City Public Schools superintendent and the school board members “woke” and said that the schools were “not safe” because of violence.
The Citizen submitted a FOIA request to the Rockingham County School System for data on the number of school-related fighting incidents during the 2024-25 school year. The Citizen also requested that the data be broken down by school.
In their response, RCPS officials said the data provided is based on the listed behavior codes and “are based on the assumption that all schools choose one of these five fighting behavior codes when they enter their incidents.”
• BSC14 – Fighting that results in no injury as determined by the school administration
• BSC17 – Shoving, pushing, striking, biting another student with no visible injury
• BES01 – Assault: Intending to cause physical injury to another person
• BES02 – Assault and Battery: Causing physical injury to another person
• BES03 – Fighting: The use of physical violence between students or on another person where there is minor injury as determined by the school administration
The total amount of documented fighting incidents was 420 for the 2024-25 calendar year. J. Frank Hillyard Middle School reported 83 incidents, Cub Run Elementary School reported 58 incidents, Wilbur Pence Middle School reported 51 incidents, and East Rockingham High School reported 38 incidents for the school year.
Those incidents were based on incidents involving five specific behavior codes, covering fights that didn’t cause injuries to more serious incidents that rise to the level of assault.
On Tuesday, Cross shared a photo of what appeared to be missing sinks in a bathroom. Cross claimed the sinks had been ripped off the walls and blamed Harrisonburg’s school board and superintendent for embracing diversity-equity-and-inclusion policies.
HCPS Superintendent Michael Richards confirmed to The Citizen that the photo came from Rocktown High School but said that the sinks were removed intentionally.
Richards said school employees determined a weakness in the material behind the sinks on the wall, so they were removed and replaced after installing a better wall material.
Fallout from the first post Sunday
The Harrisonburg City School System posted a statement Monday morning saying in part, “HCPS is deeply troubled that an adult in our community has chosen to post online videos of a recent student altercation at one of our schools.”
“This decision was irresponsible, reckless, and harmful to the students involved,” the statement continued. “These are minors who deserve privacy, dignity, and the opportunity to learn from their mistakes without being publicly shamed or exposed to online ridicule.”
Cross initially posted two videos: one showing the altercation inside a girls’ bathroom at the school, and the other capturing when school staff got involved and the incident moved into an open area inside the school. Cross has apparently since deleted the video from inside the girls’ bathroom.
The post also elicited a rare public rebuke from three of Cross’s fellow board members at their regular meeting Monday night. Board chair Sara Horst, vice-chair Ashley Burgoyne, and board member Jackie Lohr condemned the social media post.
Horst issued a statement Tuesday morning to the media, saying of Cross, “such actions are unacceptable, unprofessional, and inconsistent with the standards of conduct expected of a member of this Board. As elected officials, we are entrusted with maintaining the privacy, dignity, and trust of our employees, students, and community members. The behavior displayed through these posts represents a serious lapse in judgment and a violation of that trust.”
On Monday morning, Cross posted again, stating that he had no political motives for sharing the videos, and that as a pastor, he has children in his congregation who are too afraid to attend city schools.
“HCPS, I’m not a child who you can bully with threats for sharing how out of control your schools actually are,” he said online. “A student of yours sent me the videos per social media, who’s also afraid to come to school. The safety of students has been an issue in your schools for many years, and I believe it’s time you take it seriously. Stop allowing students who assault staff, and repeatedly cause harm to other students, to be welcomed back into your schools, and start providing a safe learning environment for the 90% of kids, who want to come to school to learn, and feel safe while they’re in your schools.”
HPCS board chair Emma Phillips sent an open letter to Horst in response to the videos, expressing her concern with Cross publicly sharing videos of minors inside a public school building, and asking Horst to condemn Cross’s actions.
“Mr. Cross’s post goes beyond poor judgment; it is a serious breach of the professional standards and ethical obligations expected of an elected official entrusted with the welfare of students,” Phillips wrote. “By publicly disparaging another school division and circulating images of minors involved in a violent incident, Mr. Cross undermines the trust and cooperation that should exist between neighboring school boards.”
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