WASHINGTON — D.C. students are less than two weeks away from their first day of school. Some of the charter schools have already made their return to the classroom. Many students have been virtual for the past year and a half.
Now, community leaders are concerned not only about keeping students safe from the coronavirus, but also from crimes happening in the community.
Safe Passage is a program first introduced in D.C. several years ago. For some students in D.C., just getting to and from school can be a challenge. Now, as those students head back in person, the Safe Passage program is gearing up again to make sure these students get to where they need to be, safely.
Delbert 'Del' McFadden is the Director of D.C.'s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. The focus of that office is to help people who have gotten in trouble with the law. They also work to prevent that from happening in the first place.
"We know if we support these youth going to and from school, hopefully in the future, we won't see them come to this office," said McFadden.
As part of the Safe Passage program, there are government agencies and community stakeholders that come together to identify the safest routes for students to take to school.
"There's a lot going on whether you're talking about community feuds, misunderstandings, there's gunplay taking place, so we want to make sure students can navigate to and from school without being impacted by these situations," said McFadden.
Along those routes, there are businesses that have agreed to be part of this program, that serve as safe spots for the students if there is an issue. There are also people in the different support agencies that are set up along those routes to monitor the students.
"They support the safe passages by being at the schools, being at the bus stops, being at the metro stops, and the places that they deem safe hubs for students. They'll also be mobile so they will drive around the schools to see if there [are] issues on the route to metro and where kids get on transportation," said McFadden.
McFadden said it is crucial to remove any fear children have from getting to and from the classroom.
"Kids cannot travel to school to be impacted by these things emotionally and physically and then sit in the classroom and be prepared for a test," he said.
The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement is one of several D.C. agencies involved in this program. Others include MPD, WMATA, and DDOT.
Click here for the Safe Passage Interactive Maps.