Local 237 President Gregory Floyd was joined on Father’s Day at a press conference outside City Hall by a group of members and State Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) to announce legislation that will protect students, teachers, administrators and school safety agents from potentially deadly attacks on school grounds.

While the city takes credit for declining crime rates in public schools, it has made “no mention of school safety agents’ contributions,” said Floyd, emphasizing that since last November there have been 25 violent attacks on school safe- ty agents. “It’s time for these types of attacks to stop.”

Cusick, whose mother is a recently retired school safety agent, said he sees SSAs as family. “It’s a noble calling to put yourself in harm’s way and serve your community,” said Cusick, adding that he was headed to Albany the next day, June 22, to introduce the bill in the Assembly. He also noted that he expects Sen. Eric Adams to carry the bill in the senate.

Under the proposed legislation, assaults with a deadly weapon on school grounds would be punishable by at least a 1-year prison sentence and a $500 fine. Under current New York State law, attacks involving a “dangerous instrument” are classified as 2nd degree assault, a D felony, carrying a 1-5 year sentence and fines ranging from $500-$5,000. Many of these cases, however, are pleaded down to lesser crimes. The proposed bill prohibits plea bargains in such indictments from offering less than the original D felony when on school grounds, serving as a strong deterrent. It also broadens the definition of a “dangerous in- strument” to include umbrellas, often used in fights to cause serious injury.

The bill stems from an incident at the Renaissance H.S. at the Lehman High School campus in the Bronx on May 27. School Safety Agent Michelle Love, assigned to special services at Central Headquarters in Queens, was part of an unannounced scanning team at the school when the incident occurred.

“We were putting equipment away and I saw three kids, two males and one female, assaulting a male school safety agent,” recalls Love, who is married and the mother of two children, ages 19 and 5, and grandmother of a 4-year-old. “I went to stop the girl from hitting him and she stabbed me in the eye with her umbrella.”

Miraculously Love, pictured in sunglasses here, did not lose vision, but she needed six stitches to close the eyelid gash the 17-year-old girl gave her. The student, another 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were arrested for attacking Love and SSA Richard Woodson, who had asked the students to leave a restricted area. Assistant Principal Jason Maass tried to prevent the arrests by standing in front of the police van, but he was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration.

“I hope they pass this bill to help others,” says Love, who had 10 years of service with school safety before leaving the position. She returned to the title in December.

See the video on local237.org.