A lunchtime fight at Portland High School last week has some students worried about their safety.
Video shows a student with a shiny object in his hand, later identified as a utility tool, but the school’s principal, Sheila Jepson, told parents no weapons were used. It is considered a weapon and school officials said it will be treated as such.
Parents are concerned about not only the fight, but what they see as school officials downplaying it.
Jepson said the fight started when one student shouted foul language at another. Students who witnessed the fight, and parents who saw the video, said it looked like one student chased another with the unopened utility tool in his hand.
“I was disturbed,” parent Mony Hang said. “The kid did pull out something, and you could see that it was silver. I’m very concerned. I’m very scared for my kids.”
Hang also is concerned about the response from Jepson, who told parents in a Monday email, four days after the fight, that “There were rumors that a weapon was involved. There was no weapon used on any student during this conflict.”
In the wake of the response to the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Portland school board voted to remove its school resource officers, which Hang called a “big mistake.”
Administrators said Portland High School “takes safety seriously” and is “committed” to ensuring a safe learning environment for students.
Jepson said the aggressors in the fight have been suspended.
Portland police are investigating the fight.