Students are being forced to stay in classrooms with other students that have physical assaulted and threatened their lives:

A seventh grader at Beaumont Middle School in Northeast Portland described feeling terrified after a classmate held a boxcutter to her neck and threatened to slit her throat during school hours several weeks ago. Her classmate was suspended for a few weeks, but is now back at school without supervision, she told members of the Portland school board on Tuesday, adding that she’s experiencing regular panic attacks as a result. “My school is not safe, not safe while I know people in positions that can help are not helping me and probably not helping others,” she said.

PPS also had to pay $250,000 to a student seriously beaten after years of bullying – as staff just stood by and watched the beating.