In the wake of a student assault on school officials at James M. Bennett High School, the principal is assuring parents such behavior won’t be tolerated, and invited them to meet with him this week.

School Principal Frederick Briggs, in a message to parents, said the number of disruptive and disrespectful incidents in Wicomico County schools is less than half the amount that occurred last year.

“It is the behaviors of a very small few that are negatively impacting the excellent school that we have here,” Briggs wrote.

“Any student that puts any staff member or student in danger will receive the maximum consequences allowed by the code of conduct, and in addition, we will also seek prosecution to the fullest extent possible.

“We will not allow the actions of a handful of students who are not focused on coming to school and taking advantage of the excellent academic and extracurricular opportunities that we have to offer, to ruin things for the vast majority who are here for the right reasons,” he wrote.

Briggs said that after the assault, he met with parents who thanked him and staff members who work with their children every day.

He invited parents to meet with him at an open door session Tuesday afternoon.

Following the incident, the student who was arrested, 16-year-old Daquan P. Parks, was jailed on $20,000 bond.

He was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, according to Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Deputies said they responded to a call from Bennett around 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 7.

Deputies said an assistant principal was talking to a 16-year-old student when the student began arguing with her. He pushed her over the counter, put both hands around her neck and began choking her, deputies said.

When the principal intervened, the teen swung at him, punching him in the head and knocking him down. The teen, too, lost his footing and fell, deputies said.

The teen got back on his feet and pinned the assistant principal against the wall until help arrived and he was restrained, deputies said.

Both the assistant principal and principal were injured, deputies said.