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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 122-03
May 12, 2003

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES DECLINE IN MAJOR AND OVERALL CRIMES IN NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Mayor Also Announces Deployment of 133 New School Safety Agents and Six New Beginnings Centers

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced a 6% reduction in overall crime and an 8% decrease in major crime in New York City public schools since creating the Office of School Safety and Planning and appointing Benjamin B. Tucker as its Chief Executive last September.  The Mayor announced the decline in crime at City schools while attending a graduation ceremony for 133 new School Safety Agents (SSA’s) at One Police Plaza.  Mayor Bloomberg also announced the immediate deployment of the new SSA’s and the opening of six New Beginnings Centers for troubled students whose behavior disrupts classroom instruction and learning.  Benjamin Tucker, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt, Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott, and Chancellor Joel I. Klein, joined the Mayor at the ceremony.

“Last fall, we created the Office of School Safety and Planning to protect the future leaders of our City, the 1.1 million children in our public schools, and vowed to be held accountable for students’ conduct in the classroom,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “Since then, and thanks to the outstanding service of our school safety agents, we have steadily improved the safety of our schools, enabling teachers to teach and students to study in a more secure classroom environment conducive to learning.  By refusing to tolerate disruptions and concentrating our efforts on disorderly students, we are creating an atmosphere where all students may learn free from harassment.”

“Thanks to the hard work of New York City police officers, we are continuing to make this city the safest it's been in decades,” Commissioner Kelly said.  “Now, with the addition of these 133 School Safety Agents, we are not only making our public schools even safer, we are also providing a better learning environment for children.  When students see that we are cracking down on crime in their school, they will feel safer. And when they feel safer, they will learn more.”

“Ensuring that all of our students are able to learn in a safe and nurturing learning environment continues to be a top priority,” Chancellor Klein said.  “Although we continue to make progress, we will not rest until every child is able to learn without the distractions created by a few unruly students.  I welcome today’s graduates and thank them for their commitment to work collaboratively with principals and teachers to achieve this goal.”

Last September, Mayor Bloomberg announced the creation of the Department of Education’s Office of School Safety and Planning and appointed Benjamin Tucker as its Chief Executive.  The office has worked in conjunction with the New York City Police Department - through Assistant Chief Gerald Nelson, Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s School Safety Division - and the Mayor’s Criminal Justice Coordinator to implement a new comprehensive school safety plan that provides support to all schools on the effective, coordinated use of disciplinary tools and school safety resources.  Since the creation of the office, the total number of criminal and non-criminal school safety incidents in the City’s public schools has fallen by more than 700, a reduction of roughly 6%.  In addition, the incidence of the seven major crimes – homicide, rape, felony assault, robbery, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto – has declined by 8%. 

Overall crime at the ten schools where crime was highest a year ago has dropped by more than 30%, with no homicides or shootings occurring in any of the City’s public schools since July 2002.  The recent declines continue the downward trend of the last two school years in which both overall crime and serious crime have decreased by 15%.

Mayor Bloomberg also announced the addition of 133 new SSA’s to continue improving school safety at all of the City’s 1,230 public schools.  The new class of SSA’s was hired in February and graduated today after successfully completing an intensive ten-week training program at the Police Academy.  The training program included instruction in law, police science, and behavioral science.  The new class will bring the total number of SSA’s in City public schools to 4,145 agents and will begin work immediately.

In addition, the Mayor announced that the City has recently launched the New Beginnings Centers for troubled students who disrupt instruction and learning in the classroom.  The New Beginning Centers are off-site schools that target especially disruptive students who have proven incapable of functioning in a traditional school environment.  More than 50% of the targeted students have attendance rates below 60%; over 90% cut more than 50 classes; and over 80% failed at least four subjects during the fall semester. 

The New Beginnings Centers enable the Department of Education to remove these students from the classrooms that they disrupt so that other students may learn there.  Once removed, the students are placed in classrooms under the close supervision of an instructor using a specially-designed standards-based curriculum that allows students to earn credits towards Regents exams.  Students are also provided with integrated guidance and supportive services.  Six New Beginnings Centers are currently operational, serving roughly 220 students from Taft, Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Truman, Graphics Communications, Springfield Gardens, Morris and Jamaica High Schools.  Each center is partnered with strong community-based organizations, including the Children’s Aid Society, Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, South Bronx Economic Development Corporation, St. Mary’s Recreation Center, Wildcat Service Corporation, and New York City Mission Society.  By the next school year, the New Beginnings Centers will expand to serve up to nine additional high schools.





CONTACT:

Edward Skyler / Jerry Russo   (212) 788-2958

Michael O’Looney   (NYPD)
(646) 610-6700

David Chai   (DOE)
(212) 374-5176


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