Poll: Ho hum straw voters, school safety concerns
Our question about the Community Education Council vote drew an anemic response — in itself, perhaps a reflection on the Department of Education’s fledgling effort at online parent engagement. About half of the respondents said they planned to vote, but the next largest group said they flat-out wouldn’t, because they didn’t know enough about the CECs or about the process.
This week, we ask about an issue that affects every child in every school in the city: School safety officers, who are often the first faces students and parents see when they enter the school building. Uniformed safety officers are a fact of life in the city’s schools. Many find their presence controversial (to put it politely) and advocacy groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union have proposed the Student Safety Act, which seems, for the moment, to be stalled in the City Council.
What do you think of the uniformed officers that guard our school doorways? Take the poll – and as ever, share your comments here.
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May I say that I miss the old website. The new website does not seem as vibrant and full of commenters like the old one. Hardly any folks, it seems, comment now….maybe that is why there was such “anemic” response to the poll mentioned in the above referenced post?
Comment by midtown mom — April 17, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
I’d like to propose another option for the poll–a variation on choice number 3: I understand why they are needd and I even understand why law enforcement is sometimes necessary in teh building, but they need to be trained to work with children (including those with disabilities) and they need to be held accountable for misconduct on a more consistent basis.
Comment by Tracy — April 17, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
I agree with Tracy that the school safety officers could use additional training for special needs students; in particular our school has a growing number of HFA students who are easily set off when handled in a “typical” fashion. That said, overall I think our safety officer is wonderful and I’m so glad she is there.
Comment by janny226 — April 18, 2009 @ 9:36 pm
I do not have a problem with Safety agents. I actually like seeing their presence. However, they should not be under the supervision of the principal. If they work with the NYPD, then the NYPD should be supervising. You have some principals who think they are above the law and that causes strain on Safety Agents. Our new principal had our long time Safety Agent removed. This was a Safety Agent that was well known with parents and students and whom students felt comfortable with and had respect for. Principals should deal with teachers, parents and student and the NYPD, who hires these Safety Agents, should be the ones supervising them. No disrespect.
Comment by Ms. Styles — April 20, 2009 @ 7:22 am
I agree that school safety agents, who look more like cops, are not the best images for our younger pupils in elementary schools, however, I accept they are surely necessary for junior-high and high schools environments. Safety of the kids must remain our number one concern until our teenagers can learn to respect the environment and property of their respective schools. It is very distressing to see our youngsters not collectively working to eradicate the need to employ law enforcement for the function of school safety.
Comment by Alli Lawson (concerned mom) — April 21, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
I was disappointed with the questions. We should be questioning their effectiveness, their deployment within the school and whether they should be NYPD cops or DoE security guards as they once were. Ms. Styles raises an interesting point. My principal claims that they don’t report to him.
Comment by SS teacher — April 22, 2009 @ 8:53 am
Overall I believe that School Safety officers serve a valuable purpose. Especially in the times in which we live. However CPR, courtesy, respect and professionalism need to be a critical point of their training because where you can witness these attributes in officers in one school, in many other schools, CPR is missing-big time. Some Level 3′s have negative attitudes and Napoleon complexes. Some officers appear to be too familiar with students. And with technology abound, you can literally visit schools and see officers texting on post away from the main desk.
Comment by Audrey Graves — April 23, 2009 @ 9:05 am