Catholic Schools to Receive City Funding for Security Personnel

New York City’s Catholic schools will receive some of the $19.8 million that the City Council unanimously voted to spend to hire security guards for private and parochial schools Dec. 7. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he would sign the bill, which would reimburse schools with at least 300 students to hire and train the unarmed guards.

The funds would cover the first year of services, beginning April 1, 2016, including hiring, training and paying the guards who would provide services during school hours and after school hours during school programs and sporting events. Councilman David G. Greenfield, a Brooklyn Democrat, sponsored the legislation.

City Council stipulated the guards must be unarmed, registered with the state and trained to work in elementary schools. They will be trained to defend children and look out for possible hate and bias crimes. The city will select an agency that will establish a list of three private security companies to choose from.

“The School Safety Agents Act will impact approximately 60 elementary and high schools in the archdiocese, providing crucial protections for our children and faculty,” said Michael Coppotelli, the associate superintendent for public policy and student services for the archdiocese.

“It enhances our Catholic schools’ mission to provide safe and nurturing environments in which our students learn and grow in the City of Man on their journey toward the City of God. On behalf of the thousands of students and parents who will benefit, we thank Councilman David Greenfield and all advocates for the nonpublic school community for their work on this program.”

The Archdiocese of New York, along with other private Christian, Jewish and Muslim educators, including the New York State Catholic Conference, the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Orthodox Union, the UJA-Federation of New York, Agudath Israel of America, the Sephardic Community Federation, the Islamic Schools Association and the Muslim Community Network, had campaigned vigorously for the bill. The SEIU 32 BJ building service workers’ union also supported the bill.

“Today is a historic day for children’s safety,” Greenfield said Dec. 7. “This monumental legislation recognizes that every child, regardless of where they go to school—whether public or private, secular or religious—deserves to learn in a safe environment. Coming on the heels of two anti-Semitic crimes in my district last week and a rise of religious bias crimes in New York City, this legislation is more important than ever.”