Educators are calling on the city to add more security guards and weapon scanners to make schools safer and address “persistent” delays that lead to fights and poor attendance.
On Friday, more than 120 principals, deans, union leaders and other staff members from 84 schools in the four boroughs spoke to officials, including City Council members, Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, and Department of Education Security Director Mark Lampersant. signed a letter addressed to
“Persistent late start times routinely undermine our efforts to create a safe, welcoming, and academically challenging environment,” they wrote.
“Long lines, whether during morning entry or after training, increase student frustration and increase safety risks such as line cuts and student collisions,” the report continued.
Wait times can also cause students to be late or miss classes, which can impact academic performance, athletic eligibility, and post-high school opportunities. It also prevents children from getting to the free breakfast program on time.
The Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus (TREC), which includes six high schools in the Bronx, has only three stations that scan 150 students every 10 minutes, administrators said.
On Friday alone, there were only six on-campus safety personnel, compared to 18 previously.
“Having enough staff at the entrance means there are no staff around the building when we arrive in the morning…and we know that their presence protects our students,” one said. TREC principal told the Post.
“The machines break down about every six weeks, and with no backup, we end up with two entrances for our 2,700 students,” one TREC principal told the Post.
A mechanical failure at the Walton campus in the Bronx, which houses five high schools, doubled wait times in October, the letter said.
The Lehman campus on East Tremont Avenue, home to six schools and more than 4,000 students, received more than 40 calls about recent delays in an hour.
Officials say schools are having trouble recruiting students because of known delays in enrollment.
“For several years now, our four-year graduation rate has been over 95 percent,” said the Bronx school's principal. “But when parents come to school, the first thing they talk about is the admissions process.”
Because there aren't enough school safety agents to run school scan stations, the city cut the agent class in half in last year's budget cuts, forcing teachers to fill the job.
The Bronx principal said administrators are arguing that city councils should take the lead in encouraging and retaining people to become school safety officers.
“Our [Council of School Supervisors & Administrators] Every month, the safety agenda asks the city for representation, representation, representation,” the Washington Heights principal told the Post. “But the city pays less than McDonald's and it's a much tougher job.”
One school principal in Brooklyn said, “The mayor and chancellor have no plan to provide a safe environment for 900,000 students and 150,000 teachers.'' They are 2,000 safety personnel short and SSA cannot afford to hire more. There are no academy classes.”
Last year, school safety officials seized 278 weapons, including guns and knives, and 3,695 other dangerous devices, including pepper spray and box cutters.
“Despite numerous prior communications, continued concerns from parents and guardians, and several meetings with NYPD and NYPD officials, these issues remain unresolved.” is stated in the letter.
The DOE did not respond to The Post's inquiries.
