St. Paul Central student hospitalized for 'serious medical emergency'

A student at Central High School experienced a "serious medical emergency" and had to be hospitalized Monday afternoon. The incident, details of which were not disclosed in a letter to parents, prompted the Principal Mary Mackbee to call on the school's crisis support team.

Medics were called to the school around 1:15 p.m. on the report of a cardiac arrest and transported a student to Regions Hospital. Monday's after-school activities have been cancelled.

Police and fire officials could not expand on the nature of the call citing privacy laws. They declined to release the condition and identity of the student.

"There are a lot of rumors about what happened today," Mackbee wrote to parents, "and I urge you to encourage your child to respect the family's privacy during this time."

A crisis support team of social workers and counselors will be at school starting Tuesday.

The incident comes just over a month after a student was charged with assaulting a teacher in the school's lunchroom.

In a note to staff Monday, Superintendent Valeria Silva announced her plans to improve school safety. She said she's immediately reassigning additional administrators and coaching staff to spend time at various schools "where fighting-related suspensions are most prevalent."

Silva cited a Centers for Disease Control article that points to school climate, intensive supervision and teacher and parent engagement as ways to help reduce violence.