Grand Blanc students caught fighting at school will pay the price.

It’s $200 for a first offense, $500 for repeat violations.

“We’re not looking to ruin kids’ lives,” Grand Blanc Police Lt. Bryan Byarski told WNEM. “We want kids to understand that, hey, school is for, you know, kids to go there and learn and enjoy their school experience, not to have to deal with these fights.”

And there’s been a lot of fights in Grand Blanc schools.

Grand Blanc Police Chief Brian Lipe told MLive there were 82 on school property in the 2023-24 school year, while another 81 altercations were broken up before a brawl broke out.

So far this year, there’s been 33 more fights, and 47 broken up.

The situation prompted city police to propose fines for fighting that were approved by the Grand Blanc City Council last week and go into effect on April 2.

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“One of my school resource officers went to a training and one of the school resource officers from out of state presented this during the training,” Lipe said of the fines. “This is something they’ve done in other states and it’s had an impact on the number of fights.”

Trevor Alward, superintendent for Grand Blanc schools, said “the district looks forward to having this ordinance in place to deter physical altercations on campus, both during and after school.”

As it is now, Byarski said, police are forced to navigate a burdensome legal process to hold students accountable for fighting at school.

“The problem we run into is the only way to charge these students is to take it down to the prosecutor’s office through the probate court, get a petition, and it’s a pretty lengthy process,” he said. “So we’re looking for a remedy to still have some consequences for the kids, but not be so severe that they’re, you know, getting charged with an actual crime because this is just a civil infraction.”

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The ordinance defines fighting as personal violence between two or more people, including punching, grabbing, shoving, or other unconsented physical contact. Officials told the media they plan to fine all involved, unless they determine no fault through reviews on a case-by-case basis.

Violating the new ordinance is “not a criminal charge, so it won’t go on their record,” Byarski said.

“It won’t affect them down the road, but there’s still some consequences,” he said.

Those consequences are in addition to school policies that call for a 10-day suspension for fighting, as well as punishments for students who record them.

“You’re not getting just 10 days off school, you’re going to be looking at paying some money. You’re going to put some time in, maybe to do some community service or take an anger management class,” Byarski said.

“This is something to make the student more accountable and maybe even the parents accountable to their kid’s actions,” Lipe told MLive. “The judge doesn’t even have to make it a fine, they can order community service. We’re just looking for a new way making the student responsible.”

The fights are among a host of student safety and mental health issues plaguing Michigan schools, where criminal and threatening behaviors increased by 31% between 2022 and 2023.

According to the 2023 Annual Report for Michigan’s nationally recognized OK2SAY program, the state received 9,686 tips spanning 30 categories involving student safety and mental health issues, including 1,769 that involved bullying, 1,482 dealing with suicide, 1,286 about drugs, 815 regarding sexual assault or exploitation, and 741 detailing threats to individuals.

“Other findings include 24 tips involving the confiscation of weapons and 77 tips resulting in the seizure of drugs or alcohol. Additionally, 236 schools conducted a comprehensive behavioral threat assessment and/or a suicide assessment because of an OK2SAY tip,” according to a Michigan State Police press release.