Changes Coming to NYC School Discipline

One of our favorite quotes from a NYC public high school administrator is that "Kids do dumb stuff." To be fully honest, he didn't say "stuff", but we assume our readers can make the substitution.

He uses this statement to describe the kinds of things that students do that can get them into trouble: fighting, smoking, wearing disruptive clothing, cutting class or unexcused absences, setting off alarms, misusing school property, gambling, and even "engaging in verbally rude or disrespectful behavior", something that teens can do with regularity. These are behaviors that school personnel are trained to deal with and often do so very effectively. However, since 1998, overall responsibility for school safety has been in the hands of the NYPD, primarily through its School Safety Division. These officers are in charge of security, such as building access, and can also get involved in incidents of student misbehavior either because they witness them or because school administrators seek their involvement. It is important to note that School Safety Officers receive special training in dealing with students and generally are familiar with a particular school and its students.

A major issue with having the NYPD in charge of school discipline is that it perpetuates the “school-to-prison pipeline,” described by the American Civil Liberties Union as "a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems." In recent years, arrests by School Safety Officers have declined. As noted in a report from the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) looking at the 20017-18 school year,  School Safety Officers"were responsible for less than 20% of arrests and just 5% of summonses." The report stressed, however, that regular NYPD officers "who are not members of the School Safety Division continue to arrest kids with near total discretion" and that "369 arrests in schools (32% of the total) were for alleged incidents that occurred off school grounds and had no relationship to the school, indicating that the NYPD is using schools as a place to locate and arrest young people."

There is also substantial racial disparity in the students who are arrested and in the use of handcuffs, even when an incident doesn't ultimately result in an arrest. These are laid out clearly in the charts in the NYCLU report. 

All of this serves as background to a new agreement which will go into effect when schools open in the fall. This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the NYC Department of Education, the NYPD, and the City of New York is designed for "keeping schools safe places of learning; ensuring that discipline is administered fairly; eliminating disparities and inconsistencies in the punishment of students, and eliminating the use of summons and arrests for minor school misbehavior while continuing to advance school safety."

Among the changes in policy and practice set forth in the MOU are:

• Police officers should not arrest or issue summons to students "whenever possible" for "low level" offenses such as disorderly conduct, graffiti, or possession of marijuana. 
• School staff are not to involve either the School Safety Officers or the NYPD when students commit infractions such as clothing violations, cutting class, lateness, smoking, lying, or gambling (unless they can't be handled safely).
• Both School Safety Officers and the NYPD, to the full extent practicable, in instances not requiring immediate arrest or other immediate action, shall consult with the principal of a school  prior to placing a student under arrest, or issuing to such student any form of criminal process on school grounds. Further, in the course of any such consultation, officers shall take into account any information provided by the principal.
• Limits will be placed on use of handcuffs.
• Both School Safety Officers and NYPD officers will receive additional training in areas relevant to dealing with students.

Although not included in the MOU, NYC will be hiring 85 new social workers for schools. In addition, schools will be using restorative justice practices that emphasize defusing conflict over suspensions in all middle and high schools starting in the next school year. Finally,  Mayor DiBlasio has also proposed that out of school suspensions be reduced to a maximum of 20 days from 180 days. 

KIDS + TRUCKS = FUN

When your blogger was the parent of young children, any large vehicle was a source of excitement. Bulldozers, fire engines, tow trucks, and cement mixers were fascinating to my kids and I went out of my way to point them out when they came past or parked near our home. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to re-live that experience when I attended the District of Columbia's 11th Annual City-Wide Truck Touch Event.

The morning-long event featured approximately 30 municipal vehicles used to clean and repair streets, change traffic lights, collect refuse, clear snow, provide emergency services, administer mobile health care, and more. Children (and the young at heart) were welcome to climb on all the vehicles, which sat in the large parking lot surrounding the old R.F.K. sports stadium. Doors were wide open and welcoming and uniformed D.C. employees were present in abundance. Horns, sirens, and all buttons were available for pushing, and the noise could get deafening -- but no grown-ups had a discouraging word. Questions were answered:  What was the biggest vehicle towed by a huge tow truck? A fully loaded cement mixer that had overturned on the highway -- and  explanations about the work of the truck operators and emergency workers were enthusiastically answered.

But this event wasn't just for fun. Grownups had a chance to register to vote, to enter the elementary school lottery, to learn about the municipal water supply, and other important activities. There was free water and shaved ice for all and free lunches for all children. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning, for folks to bond with their neighbors, and for children of all ages to get to know and become comfortable with the public employees -- firemen, police officers, sanitation crews, bus drivers and more -- who work in their neighborhoods. If your town hasn't yet tried this event, it might be worth looking into!

Pride Month - Resources for Students, Families, and Educators

This June marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the uprising at a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, that marked the beginning of the gay rights movement in the U.S. Out of this event has grown the Pride Movement, encompassing a broad array of individuals; both Presidents Clinton and Obama issued Presidential Proclamations declaring the month of June to be Pride Month.

The Pride Movement has expanded over the years and now seeks to promote education, legal rights, acceptance, and self-fulfillment for individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or gender non-conforming (LGBTQ).

Advocates for Children of New York has created an excellent LGBTQ Education Guide, setting out the rights of LGBTQ students in New York City Public Schools. The Guide is very detailed, giving specific contact information and covering such topics as bullying and harassment, transfers for safety and other reasons, the rights of students who do not live with their families, and how students can change their names. This is a valuable resource for students, parents, and educators.

Still another helpful resource is from our colleagues at The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has a Section on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health and Wellness. In a section of the AAP website dedicated to Adolescent Sexual Health, there are links to excellent resources for physicians and other health providers and a link to a policy statement that includes ways to make medical care welcoming to all young people and for pediatricians to obtain and share needed information to help support LGBTQ young people (and parents) and to provide them with the care they need.