BOSTON (WHDH) - Parents, teachers, and students of a Roxbury K-8 school held a walkout Tuesday to protest the growing number of needles found littering school grounds.
The problem is significant enough that Boston Public Schools teaches the students at Orchard Gardens to “stop, turn, and tell” when they find hypodermic needles lying around.
Tuesday’s walkout was aimed at making it clear that a saying isn’t enough to keep students safe.
Orchard Gardens teacher Jackie Mulvehill said, “It’s gotten to the point where I’ve had to call 911 because our students have been dismissed and I’ve seen three people shooting up within 10 yards of the school.
Boston Public Schools says the school’s custodial staff and a city-run needle disposal unit patrol the school grounds every morning in a hunt for used hypodermic needles.
But despite these measures, parents say their children are still finding needles.
“I always tell my son, ‘tell the teacher always, tell parents,'” said Christina Gonzalez, whose son attends Boston Public Schools. “That’s what I tell my son all the time.”
The district released a statement in response to the walkout, saying, “The safety and well-being of students and staff is the top priority for Boston Public Schools (BPS). BPS understands and shares parents’ concerns about hypodermic needle safety, and works cooperatively and proactively with the City of Boston on safeguarding our students.”
Those rallying outside the school say they will not feel safer until there is a stronger police presence in the area.
“If our janitors are the people that are cleaning up our playground, I think our city needs to get involved,” Mulvehill said.
The city operates a number of kiosks in the area for safe needle disposal and city officials say they have doubled the number of people in the mobile disposal units in response to the issue.
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