Champions at Johnson Elementary

Reviews

• LL

  Lucy

  Sep 15, 2026
  1.0
  Very disappointing and concerning to hear about how this situation was handled. From what I was told, a group of 11- and 12-year-old boys were playing at the playground. These children were not part of the Champions after-school program and were not under the program’s supervision. I was told the boys had been playing with a metal pole, but when they were asked to put it down, they complied and put it down. If the children listened and the immediate concern had already been resolved, I genuinely question why the situation needed to be escalated any further, especially to the point of calling 911. I was also told that the director of the Champions program said something along the lines of, “I’m going to the principal about this.” If there were still concerns about the children’s behavior, contacting the school, speaking with the children, or reaching out to their parents would seem like reasonable next steps. Why was an emergency police response necessary after the children had already complied? What makes this particularly troubling is that Champions promotes problem-solving as part of its program. I would expect an organization that works with children and teaches problem-solving to model communication, sound judgment, and appropriate de-escalation when dealing with children in the community—even when those children are not part of its program. I also have to wonder whether the situation was viewed objectively or whether the adults’ perspective was somehow tainted by assumptions about these particular children. I was told that one of the boys was Hispanic. I have no evidence that his ethnicity influenced the decision to call 911, so I am not making that accusation. However, when children reportedly comply with an adult’s request and the police are still called, I believe parents and community members have every right to ask whether the children were treated fairly and what specifically justified that level of escalation. Calling 911 and involving police with 11- and 12-year-old children is a serious decision. Based on what I was told, I simply do not understand why it reached that point after the boys had already put the pole down. I hope both the school and Champions take this situation seriously, review exactly what happened, and provide some transparency about why 911 was called after the children had already complied. An organization centered around children and problem-solving should be able to explain why a situation involving young kids at a playground was handled this way.

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