At long last, Local 237 school safety agents in high-crime schools may be getting some assistance in the form of new high-tech equipment to help them secure and fight crime in their schools.

At a City Council budget hearing on May 18, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced that the Department of Education (DOE) had earmarked $120 million in capital funds over the next five years to install video surveillance systems in “priority schools.”

Although the schools chancellor didn’t identify which schools will be on the “priority schools” list, he said his department is investing a total of $157 million in safety enhancements, including the surveillance systems and computerized Entrance Access Control Systems to monitor who is going in and out of school premises.

Local 237 President Carl Haynes, who has for years called for the use of surveillance cameras in city schools to monitor unguarded entrances and exits and stairwells in schools, said he was “pleasantly surprised” that the DOE has finally found some money to help make schools a little safer. Haynes added, “This probably would not have happened had the City Council not introduced legislation of their own calling for the installation of cameras in all schools.”

The Council’s legislation, sponsored last year by Council Member Peter Vallone Jr., was the result of a February 2003 City Council hearing on safety in schools, which was initiated by Local 237. Three months ago, the union, represented by Citywide Director Gregory Floyd, testified in support of the camera legislation. The New York Police Department and the DOE had opposed the bill, stating that it was too costly to install cameras in all public schools.

Funding for the new high-tech equipment, according to the chancellor, will be allocated over a five-year period, with $83 million to be allocated for the first two fiscal years.

The Council must vote to approve the mayor’s $46.9 billion spending plan or an alternative budget of their own by the end of the current fiscal year, which is June 30, 2004. The city’s new fiscal year begins July 1, 2004.

DJJ Invests in Security Upgrades

Juvenile Justice Commissioner Neil Hernandez, testifying at the City Council budget hearings before the Committees on Public Safety and Finance, said the Department would use federal dollars on security upgrades, including replacing outdated equipment, such as video cameras, because “cameras have a deterrent effect on behavior.” Hernandez asserted that since he took office two-and-a-half years ago, video surveillance cameras have helped to reduce by one-fifth the amount of contraband entering the juvenile detention facilities.

Hernandez said the agency would continue to work to enhance its services even as it braces for “impending federal cuts.” He said that “this cut in federal money next year translates into losing funding for 24 positions, which range from staff that supervise youth in living areas to staff that coordinate aftercare services.” The cuts, he added, jeopardize “the progress we’ve made the last two-and-a-half years in managing a more efficient detention setting, because we’ll need to make up this money with funding that is supposed to fill vacancies we need.”

The agency is also facing a $500,000 city and state cut to their food services operation, which could threaten another 26 positions.

State Budget Not in Sight

Meanwhile, the state budget, which is almost two months overdue, remains unresolved as state legislators battle over a new funding formula for city schools based on a recent court order.

In an attempt to break the stalemate, Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, proposed an increase in state aid to public schools by $4.7 billion over the next five years, with $1.8 billion of that money targeted to city schools. Mayor Bloomberg, however, is demanding $5.6 billion in additional school funding, plus $6.5 billion in capital construction monies for New York City schools.

The funding outlined by the Senate Republicans would come from the proceeds of the state’s new video lottery terminal parlors.