Wednesday evening at Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, members of the community gathered to address safety concerns at the school.
Over this past school year several unsettling events have threatened the peace of mind and security of students. In the fall, bomb threats put them on lockdown. In January, a fight broke out at a basketball game and a security guard was injured. Most recently, a knife-wielding former student gained entry into the school while it was in session.
At an April meeting of the Board of Education, English teacher David Gebler told members, “The halls reek of marijuana.”
The students were the most striking speakers in the cafeteria setting. In candid remarks before a group of educators, Board of Education members, MCPS employees and support staff but few parents, junior class president Esther Dzineda said students were “fed up.” She added the reality of attending the school “is too embarrassing.” And she blamed the school administration and security for not adequately dealing with the problems.
Expressing frustration with a culture that jokes about the number of fights that occur during the school day, sophomore class president Bianca Ramirez declared, “It is shameful we are accustomed to this behavior.”
Student speakers pointed out when events that threatened their security happened, the administration then halted activities like pep rallies or made students eat lunch in their homerooms. They asserted their rights to an education and a good learning environment.
One junior asked the assembly if her last year of high school could be free of all the safety and security concerns and an atmosphere of fear.
The head of school security addressed the group and admitted “communications were not good and her department needed to be better at notifications. She wanted the students to know their concerns were valued and that they shouldn’t have to worry about personal safety.
When MCM spoke with local residents at the meeting, they complained about large groups of students roaming the neighborhood, having fights in their yards and destroying property. A nearby vacant house has become a hangout. A neighbor described an incident where students took a couch from inside the house and proceeded to smoke weed while sitting in the middle of the road of her dead end street.
The police are called when these incidents occur, and the students are returned to the school building. One of the policemen in attendance referred to the situation as “challenging.”
A member of the MCPS Human Resources team told MCM these kinds of problems are “not unique to Kennedy High School.” A Kennedy graduate with children who were also graduates, she described parts of the student population as “unruly and out of control.” She felt the system lacked policies to serve students’ best interest because there were no substantial consequences for bad behavior.
Attendees were asked to brainstorm ideas to help improve conditions at the school. Suggestions included the return to an ID check-in system, consistent availability of counseling services and the use of volunteers to guard the exits during the school day.
