Schenectady school safety still a concern

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — The new school year is well underway, and school safety is on the minds of parents across the Capital Region. Wednesday night the Schenectady Board of Education provided details on the safety measures they have in place and what they plan to do going forward.

The Schenectady Board of Education held another public comment session coming off the heels of Tuesday night’s listening session where parents voiced their concerns for school safety. “We understand the frustration the anxiety the anger and the sadness that many of you feel. We are here to listen with open minds and hearts,” said Schenectady Board of Education President, Bernice Rivera.

Parents said that’s fine, but they say they want action. “It’s a little bit ridiculous at this point, there shouldn’t have been this many incidents happening. Every year it escalates more and more,” said the concerned mother, Claire Morales.

It’s a heightened time of concern for these parents as they again came together to share their concerns for safety for their children. “Safety is and should be first and foremost. When you know better you do better, right? So, why haven’t we done better?” asked concerned mother, Tara.

Regarding the calls for added protection from metal detectors, some community members don’t want that. “The youth is our future and should be encouraged to be their best selves. I’m here today to demand a vote against having police and metal detectors in Schenectady High School as metal detectors are a waste of money because studies show they have more of a negative effect,” said concerned community member, Valerie.

Yet, others disagree saying, “It would make sense to me to believe that there are more children and staff that would feel the importance of metal detection systems and safety versus assault or feeling of being in prison.” And others compare metal detector safety to everyday venue use.  “If we can have metal detectors at concerts, museums, airports and even Disney World, and nobody bats an eye. But when it comes to the safety of our children and your student body it’s a fight.”

School administration then showed a video on some of the things they are doing to address safety in the schools. “We spent about $15 million in the last three years on physical upgrades to buildings that people largely don’t see. It’s things like door alarms, it’s things like secure vestibules and a lot of these safety upgrades are what has brought us up to the level that we should be at. Between upgrades to our surveillance system with the cameras, our access system with swipers, you know, that the changes that we’ve made ensure that we know who’s in the building, it’s the proper people to be in the building and if somebody leaves, we know it,” said Jeff Russo Schenectady District Director of Climate and Safety.

During the meeting, some concerned parents passed around and signed a petition in favor of metal detectors, which is gaining momentum. The next public session with the board of education on school safety will be September 30 ^th .

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