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Student leaders at Lincoln and Benson high schools have joined the calls for a full accounting of Portland Public Schools' decision to lock Benson students in their school last week while Lincoln students protested outside.
"District officials who ordered and supported the lockout must be held accountable for this rash and unnecessary action," reads the statement issued late Sunday by student leaders—Benson Associated Student Body president Teresa Tran and secretary Lisa Lau, as well as Lincoln student and bond advocate Michael Ioffe and Lincoln co-Presidents Marin Christensen and Riley Wilson.
"We believe PPS violated the civil liberties of Benson students."
Last week, Lincoln students walked out of school over the school board's decision to postpone a vote on the $750 million bond that under current plans would revamp both schools.
By the time the Lincoln students' protest arrived at Benson, Interim Superintendent Bob McKean had ordered a lockdown of Benson. When Lincoln students arrived across town, Benson students were barred from leaving their school to join the protest.
The Benson parents and the activist group Don't Shoot Portland criticized the disparity in treatment last week, noting the difference in racial makeup of the schools.
According to last year's enrollment data, nearly three-quarters of Lincoln's students are white; 3 percent are African American; and 7 percent are Hispanic. At Benson, one out of five students is African American; one out of four is Hispanic; and one out of three are white.
On Friday, district spokeswoman Courtney Westling said McKean ordered the lockout, as the Oregonian first reported. The students don't name him.
To date, the district has insisted that students at Benson were allowed to leave. Parents and a student told WW otherwise. And signs posted on Benson at the time clearly indicate students were directed to stay in place.
The students' statement adds further details, noting the PPS policy during a lockout necessarily means kids have to stay in a building: "PPS lockout procedure states that students must 'return and remain inside the school building,'" the students' statement notes.
"The lockout effectively silenced the voices of Benson students during the main portion of the protest," the statement reads.
They also add details to the sequence of events: "Word eventually spread through the Benson student body that they were free to leave, yet this occurred thirty to forty-five minutes after the lockout was started, at which point Benson students flooded out of the building to join the protest."
The students' request:
Full statement:
Willamette Week