Teachers Schooled On Safety Issues;

NYPD Chief Offers Advice
Teachers Schooled On Safety Issues


Several hundred Teachers spent the better part of Election Day wading through reams of rules and regulations on school safety, in the hopes of improving conditions at their jobs.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang AND ANOTHER THING: Teachers at the United Federation of Teachers' school safety training last week asked questions of the union leadership and were candid about safety problems not being addressed at their schools. Officials at the all-day training session at United Federation of Teachers headquarters emphasized early intervention to stem violence and to keep educators who are forced to break up fights from being slapped with corporal punishment changes. Top brass from the Police Department stressed better communication between Safety Agents and school staff in the hopes of reducing tensions in some schools over policing tactics.

Tales of Violence

"We need cooperation," said Deputy Chief James A. Secreto, the head of the NYPD's School Safety Division, "especially with kids, because they will play one against the other."

Teachers were mixed on whether their school safety committees, the institutionalized space for inter-staff communication, were working. Stories emerged about SSAs who refused to enter a classroom when students were throwing chairs. Other educators regaled their colleagues with tales of kindergarteners and first-graders who terrorized whole schools.

UFT officials emphasized that school procedures should either be utilized or culled out if they were useless. "Do you feel like it's a committee where you think you can get something done?" UFT President Randi Weingarten asked the auditorium filled with chapter leaders. "Because if more than half of you think it's a freakin' waste of time, then we have to work on that."

Security vs. Principal

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES: Deputy Chief James A. Secreto, who leads the Police Department's Schools Safety Division, told educators at a United Federation of Teachers training session last week that keeping open lines of communication between School Safety Agents, the NYPD, the school administration and Teachers was the most important factor in keeping a school safe. 'We need cooperation,' he said. 'Especially with kids, because they will play one against the other.'

Teachers weren't the only ones with stories of crossed wires. Mr. Secreto recalled an incident at a school where the Safety Agents had stopped admitting students into a school dance a half-hour before previously announced because of fears of overcrowding and gang violence. When the Principal asked the agents to let in six students who had been shut out, the NYPD employees refused. "That's like crazy to me," said the Deputy Chief. "She's the CEO of the school; she's in charge. And she doesn't have enough influence to get six kids in? This is a school that's not working well together."

But most Teachers were more concerned with daily uproars in their classrooms and understanding protocols for discipline. In addition to mountains of paperwork that had to be filed, officials stressed early intervention. By the time a fight happens, the situation is already out of control and a Teacher who seeks to break it up can get charged with corporal punishment and thrown in a Rubber Room for touching a student. So the message from the front of the room was to report even the most minor incident, such as cursing at a Teacher, before the situation spirals.

Fear Retribution

Ms. Weingarten acknowledged the concerns from Teachers who worried about retribution from school administrators over reporting all incidents. Some Teachers said their Principals discouraged reporting because a high number of violent incidents can have a negative impact on school evaluations. "When you do something about it, some of you are going to get hammered. I'm not going to say it's not true," said the union leader. "But if you can walk through that fear, your members will too."

Chief Secreto also emphasized reporting all incidents and keeping the lines of communication open among the adults at the school. He suggested that UFT officials or members come to Safety Agents' training to discuss issues Teachers face. He noted that while the agents are trained, along with about 150 NYPD uniformed officers who specialize in school safety, a patrol car may respond to a school incident carrying officers who are not familiar with school protocol. That, he said, made relationships between staff members even more vital.

Although mandatory scanning at high-risk schools has been controversial in some quarters, no Teachers spoke out against it as Mr. Secreto detailed the findings last year from the 73 schools with regular scanning and 172 locations that were randomly scanned. The NYPD recovered 24 guns, 114 pellet guns and 679 other weapons.

Can Call 911

The Teachers assembled did pepper the Deputy Chief with a range of other questions. Could they call 911 if they felt threatened? (Yes.) Could he send more agents on the day parents come to school to pick up their child's report card? (It's possible.) Is it an SSA's job to break up a student fight? (Yes.) Who decides when an arrest is appropriate? (An SSA or Police Officer.)

The discussion began to reach a feverish pitch as one educator described an incident in which students were throwing chairs and he couldn't get an SSA to lend assistance. "We have no badge," the exasperated Teacher said. "There is nothing on our shoulders marked UFT Protection From Corporal Punishment."

Mr. Secreto took the back-and-forth in stride, alternatively making jokes to lighten the mood and sympathizing with the educators.

UFT Vice President of Career and Technical Education Michael Mulgrew stepped in as the mercury rose. "This is a conversation that should be going on at your schools," he said. "And if you're having a problem at your school - we need to know."

Need to Communicate

He argued that the solution to many problems was open communication among school staff. "You want the conversation to be between the administration and the SSAs and the union reps," he said. "Don't let them split you up. That is bogus. Don't let it happen."

As many stories as there were about student misconduct, the Teachers also showed their appreciation of the smaller, daily acts that could bring harmony to a school. When one Teacher described a child who was well-behaved most of the time but could cause mayhem when her mother didn't make sure she took her medication, many looked down and shook their heads. "That's neglect," advised UFT school safety expert Gail Kramer, "You should call child protection."

And when tales of a kindergartener run amok were shared, UFT violence prevention trainer Linda Vila-Passione responded, "Sometimes the issue is that there's no artistic outlet, and there's no nap time. Sometimes that's what's really going on."

The Teachers in the room looked at one another knowingly and broke into applause.