BROCKTON — Throughout last school year, groups of Brockton High School students were causing chaos and damage inside many nearby businesses located across Belmont Street, according to several store managers. Before, during and after school hours, shops and restaurants in the area struggled to keep order.
A new Starbucks is now open for business on Belmont Street, within eyesight of the massive Brockton High building, which boasts a student body of roughly 3,700.
“In the past, we’ve had some issues with some of the local businesses, the ones that were across or near the high school,” said Brockton Police Lt. Paul Bonanca at an Aug. 6 School Committee meeting.
Bonanca said he met with managers at the new Starbucks and the company’s media relations confirmed that the dining area will be closed during the week from 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. when BHS students get out of school, not including the weekend. The drive thru will remain open, and people can still order food but can’t stay in the store.
“When kids congregate, the areas that are closest to the high school it seems to be more of a concentrated area,” said Bonanca.
Mayor looks for ‘collaborative solution’ to keep Starbucks fully open
Mayor Robert Sullivan said in a written statement Wednesday afternoon he had been unaware that the new Belmont Street Starbucks planned to close the interior store area during those hours of the school week.
“As a result, I will be requesting a meeting with the store’s management team and Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez to further discuss this decision. This wonderful new business addition, located in a busy section of our City, should be fully open daily during all business hours,” the mayor said.
“Together I am hopeful that we will find a collaborative solution to support this merchant and to ensure safety for the workers and the customers.”
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Improvement after businesses started kicking students out?
Now that it’s summer break, store managers said that the chaos has calmed down. But by the end of last school year, some businesses took their own measures to stop students from causing issues.
“It does seem like it’s getting better,” said Madison Fleming, manager of the Taco Bell next door to the new Starbucks, on Tuesday, Aug. 13. “I think they really just need guidance, that’s really the only thing.”
Fleming said that she used to hear students from BHS yelling and arguing inside her Taco Bell store, and she saw “little fights here or there.” She added that at times they treated the building “like it’s a playground.” Now, Fleming said they kick out students if they don’t buy anything.
“They haven’t been how they used to be,” she said. “I feel like they just didn’t want to get kicked out no more.”
Down the street at Burger King, Assistant Manager Daniela Lopes said that students used to come in from the high school and destroy the store’s bathrooms, but the last time that happened was last fall during the start of the school year. At one point, Brockton students broke one of their drink machines.
“We just tell them they can buy the food but can’t stay here,” said Lopes. “We literally tell them, ‘you can’t stay here.'”
Lopes said there aren’t as many problems now that employees kick kids out. While the issues usually occurred during lunch time, some students would come in as early as 6 a.m.
“Some kids don’t even go to school, they just come here in the morning,” she said.
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Safety and security risks, police on watch
As early as November 2023, Brockton High School staff reported instances of students leaving the building midday to go across the street to McDonalds and other businesses without permission. Since then, Kevin McCaskill, who became the permanent principal of BHS in January, has said the problem has gone down.
Xiaoce Yang is the general manager of the Juicy Seafood restaurant located right behind the McDonalds on Belmont Street. Yang said he used to see fights break out between students in the parking lot outside his restaurant. Now, Yang said he sees Brockton Police patrolling the parking lot after school lets out.
Lopes, Fleming and Yang all said they’ve had no contact with the school regarding the issues. Yang also said he hasn’t had issues with students inside his business and most kids are respectful.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly named the times that Starbucks would be closed. The error has been corrected and The Enterprise regrets this mistake.
