Bad language, fights and a total breakdown in class discipline. That’s the claims made in an anonymous letter to parents at one Cedar Rapids middle school.

And that letter to McKinley parents prompted a lengthy discussion at a PTA meeting at the school on Monday.

During the hour plus discussion, there was some disagreement about whether many of the claims were true, exaggerated, or not true at all.

But there was no disagreement that school officials at McKinley will take the concerns seriously and investigate what was written.

The letter starts off by saying the writer is “deeply saddened by the state of our school.”

Some examples are offered of problems such as claims of vulgar name calling, even of teachers, along with serious and frequent fights among students.

The letter goes on to say some students constantly roam halls and disrupt classes. There was also a claim that some students had abused classroom animals.

One parent who attended, Rachel Morey, found the letter a mixed bag of true incidents and rumors.

“I sat down with the letter and my kids last night. My 6th grader knew about 20 percent of it and my 9th grader had heard about 80 percent of it. But she thought about half of what she had heard was just people talking,” she said.

The McKinley principal said he received the letter last week and had spent some sleepless nights trying to figure out how to address the issues. He said he had met with teachers to start talking about how to respond.

Many parents at the meeting said they would be interested in volunteering by going to the school when the doors open in the morning and walking the halls to provide an extra set of eyes and ears to spot any potential trouble.