by Avery Yale Kamila
Parents and residents living in downtown neighborhoods are asking for increased protection for Portland children walking on city streets. This follows multiple recent incidents involving King Middle School and Portland High School students. In response, the schools are exploring expanding METRO access, and the police want to see more crossing guards.
After weeks of neighbor complaints and SeeClickFix reports about an encampment growing next to the designated Portland High School parking area on Lancaster Street and less than a block from the entrance to Baxter Academy, the tents and piles of trash were cleared by the city on Nov. 24. The clearing happened on the same day WGME-13 reporter Max Williams called city officials to find out why the encampment near the high schools was allowed to continue.
Reports in the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Wire also discussed the encampment near the high school.
When asked about the safety issues at a December parent meeting at King Middle School, Ryan Scallon, superintendent of the Portland Public Schools, said he was in discussions with METRO officials to explore what it would cost to have middle school students who live within two miles of their schools ride the city METRO bus, as high school students do.
Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois said in January that each weekday the department stations four officers in the area where Oxford, Portland and Preble streets intersect. However, he added, the officers are often dealing with incidents and are rarely able to patrol the sidewalks. Dubois would like to see the city’s crossing guard program expand to cover that area and Park Avenue, including the unattended crosswalks at State Street, Forest Avenue and Preble Street.
The encampment was the third major safety incident affecting downtown students this school year.
In early November, an eighth-grade King student was grabbed by a stranger while walking on the Deering Oaks sidewalk along Park Avenue. The man was identified, and the girl’s parents declined to press charges. In September, a man exposed his genitals to King Middle School students who were in the Deering Oaks playground with teachers at the time. The Portland Police were called to the scene an hour later and took a swing seat as evidence but were unable to identify the man.
King Middle School is the district school for Bayside residents. Since Bayside is within two miles of the school, students do not qualify for a school bus and must walk or be driven in a private car.
The walking route for many Bayside students includes Oxford, Portland and Preble streets. The intersection of these streets is where numerous social services are located and where those experiencing substance use disorder congregate. It is also where the city’s greatest number of annual arrests occur. Students walking to and from King have been harassed and threatened along the route.
Councilor Sarah Michniewicz, who lives in Bayside and represents District 1, was interviewed by multiple news outlets regarding these safety incidents and said she shares the safety concerns of parents and residents.
