!EM INSTITU YE
LBMRY
JOINT COMMITTEE
ON
SCHOOL SAFETY
FIRST ANNUAL
ORT
Committee Members
Adam L. Barsky
Director
Ofice of Management and Budget
Birdie Blake-Reid
Director of Fz117dedand Community Resources
Board of Education
Joyce Coppin
Superintendent, Brooklyn High Schools
Board of Education
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Muyor
Raymond Diaz
Commanding Oficer, School Safety Division
New York City Police Department
Steven M. Fishner
Criminal Justice Coordinator
Ofice of the Muyor
Michael D. Hess
Harold 0.Levy
Chancellor
Corporatior7 Counsel
Law Department
Burton Sacks
Chief Execntive for Community School District Affairs
Board of Education
Chad Vignola
Bernard B. Kerik
Police Commissioner
Counsel to the Chancellor
Board of Education
INTRODUCTION
The maintenance of order and security in and around the public schools is essential to
creating a learning environment in which students can meet high academic standards and
educators can teach to those standards. Equally important, parents should be confident that their
children are learning in a safe and positive school setting.
In the past, the Board of Education has relied primarily upon its Division of School
Safety to maintain such order. Security issues, however, continue to become more complex and
challenging. Acting in a spirit of mutual cooperation to strengthen their efforts to safeguard
children and enhance safety and security, the Chancellor, the Board of Education and the City
entered into an agreement on September 17, 1998 to implement a joint program between the
Board of Education and the New York City Police Department (NYPD). In accordance with this
agreement, on December 20, 1998 school security functions performed by the Division of School
Safety were transferred to the Police Department for an initial four year period, during which the
Police Department is responsible for managing school security personnel.
The goal of this collaborative effort is to enhance the educational mission of the schools
by providing the highest level of safety and security for students and school personnel. In
managing the Division of School Safety, the Police Department is relying on its experience and
involvement in numerous youth programs, including neighborhood outreach initiatives,
mentoring projects, drug use prevention education, conflict resolution, anti-violence education
and after-school instruction. Moreover, the Board of Education and the City expect the Police
Department to provide better training, increase professionalism among security personnel, and
more effectively deploy staff.
Working together, the Police Department and the Board of
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