Education officials have announced several new policies to ensure the safety of New York City students heading into the new school year this fall.
The Ministry of Education said it is committed to ensuring schools are sanctuaries for students. Principal David Banks said the city is improving emergency training for school leaders, including what to do in the event of a mass shooting.
The department said it had examined how well current safety measures, such as panic buttons and alarms, were working over the summer. They reportedly discovered more than 1,000 issues that they said needed to be addressed by Thursday.
But school safety agents have a complicated history. Hundreds of students and parents protested police at school last year.
Nationwide, black students are more than three times more likely to be arrested by law enforcement than their white peers, according to data from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Speaking about this today, the Prime Minister stressed that while he believes school safety officers are necessary to keep schools safe, it is also important that schools do not feel like prisons.
The president also said the department will redeploy social workers and counselors to ensure all schools have the resources they need to support the emotional and mental health of their students.
Additionally, Banks announced a new initiative called Project Pivot. It links schools with anti-violence groups, but police may not be able to respond, he said.