CINCINNATI — Student safety was the main focus of Wednesday night’s meeting between the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education and the City of Cincinnati’s Healthy Neighborhoods Committee.
While youth sports are supposed to be a safe place for kids to have fun and compete, multiple games last year were disrupted by gun violence. Whether it was Cincinnati police responding to a shooting that injured 2 at a peewee football game or CPS changing several football game kickoffs due to "community violence," safety at youth sports felt uncertain for many.
"There were almost 200 kids still there at the time when the shots went off — most of those kids were extremely traumatized," Rev. Peterson Mingo, a community activist, said in court after shots were fired at a peewee football game hosted at Walnut Hills High School in October 2024.
At Wednesday's meeting, council member Scotty Johnson said adults betting thousands of dollars on games was the root cause of much of the violence.
"You cannot have youth football games where there are $3, 4, or $5,000 bets taking place," Johnson said. "People are dying for a lot less money."
Johnson also claimed that betting is the reason Cincinnati police no longer patrol youth football games.
"So the reality and the difficult conversation when it comes to our young people are this: Community, stop betting on our children," Johnson said. "Because that really is what has taken place and that is why Cincinnati Police have stepped away."
WATCH: City and school leaders discuss youth safety concerns
The information came as a shock to many, with several city and school leaders admitting they were not aware this was going on.
"It is about accountability for adults that are attending these games," said Kareem Moncree-Moffett, CPS board president. "That's the biggest issue."
Another concern brought up several times throughout the meeting was the proposed Hyde Park Square development, close to Hyde Park School. Several community members spoke during public comment about the impact on student safety in an area where they say traffic is already unsafe.
City council and CPS board members also brought up concerns.
"I'm concerned about pedestrian safety as well with these kids," said Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney.
We reached out to the developer, PLK Communities, whose chief development officer said in a statement the company understands the concern but pointed to a recent survey reviewed by the Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering that says the development would have minimal impact on existing travel conditions.
During the discussion, Moncree-Moffett urged the public to negotiate with developers and city leaders before a vote as once something is approved, she says, it’s often more challenging to make changes.
The district also shared safety improvements at Wednesday’s meeting, tied specifically to the increase in crossing guards hired since February, and what they continue to do to make it safe.
“So we're looking at every school and school campus, and streets around the schools to look at signage, to look at crosswalks, do they need to be repainted, do we have the flashing speed signs up,” said Christopher Burkhardt, CPS’ Chief Operating Officer.
Of 160 crossing guard positions, 138 are permanently filled, a CPS spokesman said. He credits WCPO's reporting as one of the reasons that the district received so much interest in these positions.
There are still 22 crossing guard positions that need to be filled permanently.
The next joint meeting between the CPS Board and the Healthy Neighborhoods Committee will be on Aug. 6 at City Hall.
