Portland educators are working through a huge problem of bullying in the city’s Middle schools. The post-pandemic reality involves solving issues among students. Middle schools have long been known as a breeding ground for bullying and boundary-testing. But in the post-pandemic era, some in Portland and nearby emerged more harmful than before. This accompanies spikes in student-on-student harassment and fights that, in extreme cases, led to student walkouts and even prolonged closures.
Portland educators and parents have come together to see what can be done to end bullying. Portland-area districts hired additional staffers and directed federal pandemic aid to improve middle school behavior and student well-being. But disciplinary statistics indicate many middle schools continue to be swamped with behaviors that dismay teachers and students alike. The phenomenon has been noted nationally as well.
Portland is trying restorative justice as a way to break the disturbing pattern. This seems to be a better alternative to the status que where Black and Latino students are significantly more likely to be referred, suspended or expelled than their white or Asian peers.
Other school districts are trying other approaches. In Beaverton, every middle school student now has a mandatory, once-a-week advisory class that focuses on topics including suicide prevention, substance abuse and mental health and wellness. It seems overboard, however, a number of suicides are the results of bullying. The district also hired six new substance abuse specialists to work in its middle and high schools. In Hillsboro, middle schools changed their schedules to allow small group advisories that focus on managing emotions and improving relationships to meet four times a week, said Sarah Crane, the district’s executive director of elementary and middle schools.
In Portland Public Schools, it took months into the school year before a dozen new restorative justice coordinators, hired at a cost of $1.06 million, were all in place. In the meantime, educators say, new vacancies have popped up. And the future is uncertain, given inflation-fueled budget shortfalls and declining enrollments, though Deputy Superintendent Cheryl Proctor said this week the district does not plan to cut any restorative justice specialists.
Portland began offering restorative justice training districtwide in fall of 2018, but not every school chose to participate, and formal training remains optional. District disciplinary guidelines acknowledge a history of differential treatment, particularly based on race, and require classroom teachers to check themselves for bias before sending a student out of class.
