St. John’s senior strives for seat in City Council
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“Most people don’t think young people can lead, but we have been leading the social movement.”
Read MoreNYC submits school reopening plan, with quarantines for COVID-exposed staff and students
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“A huge amount of effort has gone in to getting our schools ready.”
Read MoreQueens schools won’t reopen until at least June to prevent coronavirus spread
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The state will make a decision on in-person summer school by the end of the month.
Read MoreNo Fs this semester for NYC’s 1.1 million public schools students
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“We recognize that parents and students alike are experiencing anxiety and trauma in the midst of the pandemic, and we have continually evolved our policies to meet this moment.”
Read MoreQueens teens deal with drastic impact of COVID-19 school shutdown
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“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have never wanted to be at school so much in my life.”
Read MoreDe Blasio and Cuomo bicker over school closure plan
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“Lord knows having to tell you that we cannot bring our schools back for the remainder of this school year is painful.”
Read MoreOPINION: The city should respect religious observance during COVID-19 crisis
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Respecting shared holidays promotes acceptance and inclusion.
Read MoreNYC schools will close and move to remote learning starting next week
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All New York City Schools will be closed through at least April 20 and moving to online learning by March 23 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio and School Chancellor Richard Carrana announced Sunday night.
Read MoreCollege enrollment among NYC students hits record high
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A total of 48,782 students who graduated high school in 2018 enrolled in college afterward.
Read MoreHow to help kids manage back-to-school anxiety
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There are signs to look out for that will let parents know that their child is anxious about returning to school.
Read MoreCity schools “not sufficiently prepared” for mass shooting incident, 27 councilmembers say
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Councilmember Adrienne Adams wrote a letter to the Department of Education stating that city schools are “not sufficiently prepared” for a mass shooting incident. The letter was signed by 27 councilmembers. Photo via City Council/Flickr.
By Jonathan Sperling
More than two dozen city councilmembers agree that the Department of Education’s schools are “not sufficiently prepared” for a mass shooting incident, according to a letter signed by the pols and addressed to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.
Queens Councilmember Adrienne Adams, who formerly served as the education chairperson of Community Board 12 in Southeast Queens, wrote the letter following an audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. A total of 27 councilmembers signed onto the plea for preparedness.
DiNapoli’s audit found that the DOE can do more to comply with the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education, or SAVE Act, which lays out a comprehensive policy for school staff and administrators regarding the protection of students.
“It is alarming to know that erroneous, outmoded and untimely safety plan submissions are prevalent in our school system,” the letter reads, before urging the DOE to mandate compliance with the SAVE Act prior to the start of the 2019-2020 school year.
DiNapoli’s audit also found that five “of the 25 sampled schools did not conduct the minimum number of evacuation or lockdown drills and, for the 2016–17 school year, 3 of the 25 schools did not conduct drills within the required time frames,” among other findings.
A bevy of Queens councilmembers, including Councilmembers Donovan Richards, Paul Vallone, Robert Holden, Barry Grodenchik and Peter Koo also signed off on the letter.
The councilmembers encouraged the DOE to follow DiNapoli’s recommendations, which include working with the Education Department to develop a process to submit School Safety Plans to state police, as required under both the law and the state regulations, as well as reviewing procedures for monitoring emergency drills to ensure that all drills required by law are completed within the required time frames.
NYC schools had nearly 18,000 violent incidents, state comptroller reports
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A total of 17,991 violent and disruptive incidents recorded in the 2017-2018 school year occurred at NYC schools, making up approximately 56 percent of incidents statewide.
Read MoreQueens parents say they were abruptly cut out of meeting with Schools chancellor
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Queens South parents who were excluded from the event reached out to the Eagle and said they didn’t buy the excuse that there was “limited spacing.”
Read MoreBorough Hall funds $65 million worth of upgrades throughout Queens
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The $65 million will come from the FY 2020 budget that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council agreed upon on June 14.
Read More‘Ants in an ant farm’ — Queens schools contend with chronic overcrowding
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The reasons for overcrowding are complex — a combination of demographic growth, housing development, shortsighted policy and other factors.
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