Safe Passage program rolls out at several Prince George’s County schools
LARGO, Md. (DC News Now) — A new student safety program is underway at several schools across Prince George’s County.
Volunteers with the Safe Passage pilot program are working to help students stay out of trouble and harm’s way after dismissal.
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Volunteers were easy to spot at Largo High School on Tuesday, wearing bright purple shirts, making sure students went straight home and crossed the busy Largo Road safely.
The big goals, volunteers say, are pedestrian safety for students and with squashing any beef between teens before it escalates to violence.
“If they can’t lean to their parents or their families, they’re going to lean to the streets,” said Tiffany Williams, who picks her younger brother up from Largo High School every day. “I don’t want him out here dealing with the wrong people, the wrong crowd. In high school, it’s a lot of drama, a lot of issues, a lot of bullying.”
Keeping her brother out of trouble is a top priority, and Williams said she’s happy to see Safe Passage volunteers helping to keep students safe too.
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The Prince George’s County Board of Education member Branndon Jackson is putting on the purple shirt and helping to kickstart the project.
“This program is basically just making sure our kids gets home safe, the same way they left home,” he said.
Jackson says these new safe passage volunteers are prepared to take on the important task of gaining students’ trust. They underwent training over the weekend at Largo High School.
“We went through a really intensive training, with the violence interrupters from Washington, D.C. They taught us on how to engage students,” he said. “Making sure that you can appeal to the things that they’re interested in, taking information from them if they’re willing to give it to you and turning that information over to security.”
Largo, Suitland, Flowers, Central and Bladensburg high schools along with Andrew Jackson Middle School are the first to see these new volunteers on campus.
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Safe Passage still needs a lot more volunteers to keep up with demand, Jackson said. The pilot stage of the program is expected to last about six weeks.
Those interested in volunteering can fill out a form here.
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