School Safety employees found 2,701 weapons during the 2018-2019 school year, versus 2,718 the year before, according to statistics obtained by the New York Post. But the number of box-cutters, BB guns and other weapons being seized from schools was significantly up from the 1,673 found during the 2014-2015 school year.
An Arms Build-Up
The number of knives confiscated in schools almost doubled during that five-year period: 1,677 blades were found during the most-recent school year, compared to 873 in 2014-15.
“This just means that more children are bringing knives to school because they know other kids are bringing knives to school,” said Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents the 5,500 School Safety Agents.
The Department of Education stated that more knives were found because more unannounced scans took place. (About 43 percent of weapons were found through metal detectors, the Post reported). There were permanent metal detectors installed at 90 schools.
Mr. Floyd has repeatedly pushed for metal detectors in every city high school, pointing out that the Bronx school where Abel Cedeno stabbed to death 15-year-old classmate Matthew McCree in 2017 did not use the equipment. “Metal detectors are a deterrent,” he said.
Will Mantell, a DOE spokesman, insisted that “our schools are safe and getting safer—overall weapons recovery, major crime and suspensions are down, and we’re proud of the progress we’re making,” he said.
Other Troubling Signs
City public schools also had significantly higher rates of assaults and sexual misconduct than schools in other parts of the state, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found in an Aug. 13 analysis of school safety data from 4,700 public and charter schools.
The audit found that the schools reported 32,084 assaults, drug-related incidents and other violent or disruptive misconduct during the 2017-2018 school year. City schools notified the state of 17,991 incidents; and that’s not factoring in that the Comptroller’s office has previously found that “the city’s schools had underreported and misclassified similar types of data in the past,” the audit stated.
Mr. Floyd believed that misconduct was underreported in city schools since the use of warning cards—which were issued to students 16 years old and up for disorderly conduct or possession of marijuana on school grounds—changed how illegal behavior in schools was recorded.
Worst on Sex Crimes
Although the audit found that the city had the lowest rates of alcohol and drug-related incidents, it reported a rate of sexual offenses—which range from inappropriate touching to rape—that was higher than any other school district: 3.3 sexual offenses per 1,000 students.
About a quarter of schools statewide reported no incidents, although just 8.3 percent of city schools didn’t report any.
Mr. DiNapoli said that the results of the probe showed that “much work needs to be done,” to ensure students’ safety.
“In order to learn effectively, students need to feel safe. Sadly, many students and faculty are confronted with violent and disruptive activity on a regular basis,” he said.