By COLlive reporter
100 educators and administrators, responsible for the safety of 52,000 children and 8,000 staff members, participated in a school safety forum hosted by the Misaskim organization on Monday, November 28th.
The educators represented nearly 200 Yeshivas and Orthodox Jewish girls schools from the 13 precincts in Brooklyn South.
The forum was arranged upon the request from NYPD officials who sought to meet with educators after several safety issues recently surfaced. Members from Hatzolah and Shomrim were also present at the forum.
Crown Heights schools were represented by Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Lezell and Assistant Principal Chanie Schapiro from Associated Beth Rivkah Schools, Rabbi Eliyahu Davis of United Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Bronstein and Rabbi Tzvi Rosenfeld of Oholei Torah, and Rabbi Zalman Wilhelm of Bnos Menachem.
Also present was Rabbi Lipa Brennan, Executive Director of Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda in Brooklyn, known to Lubavitchers for his role in the Kinus Hashluchim.
VULNERABLE TO FOUL PLAY
School personnel were first addressed by Assistant Chief Thomas Chan, who was recently promoted to Commanding Officer of Brooklyn South.
Before being promoted, Chief Chan served as the Commanding Officer for school safety in New York City. He stressed the importance of a school safety plan in the event of a fire, medical emergency, flood or any other disaster. “NYC requires every school to have a school safety plan,” he told those gathered.
Chief Chan also offered several important tips in preventing any mishaps that may endanger the safety of our children. He explained the vital role of video surveillance in preventing and responding to emergencies at a school facility. The Chief reported that, statistically, educational facilities are more vulnerable to foul play and therefore schools must take the prevention initiatives seriously.
Next, school administrators and principals were addressed by commanding officers of their local precincts. The commanding officers praised the working relations they have with schools and pointed out how integral these working relations are in keeping our schools safe. The officers met one-on-one with administrators at the end of the forum to address individual concerns.
NEW SAFETY SYSTEM
Misaskim also introduced a safety notification system at the forum. This system will allow Misaskim to disseminate emergency information to school administrators and principals should an emergency arise —especially after school hours. This system was established primarily in response to several potentially dangerous incidents that occurred in or near school facilities; for instance, suspicious individuals lurking near a school building.
The system will enable schools to be warned in record time in order to prevent a tragedy from occurring. In addition, Misaskim will also be able to relay timely safety messages from various law-enforcement agencies to school officials as well as to dispel rumors.
“This school notification system is an unbelievable job to get together,” Inspector Philip VanGostein of the Counterterrorism Unit told the audience. “You really need to share information with each other. Share your best practices.” He urged schools to contact his office for safety assessments and counseling.
Councilman David Greenfield, who also attended the forum, stressed that currently the biggest concern in the Yeshiva school system is a scarcity of resources. “The reality is that in today’s harsh economic times … Yeshivos face a fiscal crunch,” he said.
However, Greenfield counseled schools to make use of the technical resources they do have. He advised that schools take advantage of the security assessment offered by their police department. He also suggested that schools assign an individual to be in charge of all security issues. He assured the audience that his office is doing everything possible to allocate resources toward the safety of our schools and Yeshivas.
AGENCY BRIEFING
Then, a representative from the Federal Bureau of Investigation addressed the school administrators and principals. Special Agent Scott Olsen outlined pertinent child safety issues including tips on conducting employee background checks.
He demonstrated child identification kits that could make the difference if a child is missing. Parents are responsible to hold on to these identification kits and will hand them over to law enforcement only in the event of an emergency. Misaskim is working to make these kits available to all the children in our communities.
Olsen went on to explain the proper procedures involved to conduct employee background checks. He related numerous situations in which children were exposed to dangerous individuals because of a lapse in the background check procedure.
For example, Misaskim was recently involved in a search for a missing child. A nearby property manager was suspected in the case. When the local police called him in for questioning, they uncovered that he had a record of 11 prior arrests, including manslaughter. School officials need to be extremely cautious when hiring individuals who will be around children.
Toward the end of the session, school administrators and principals reached out to the appropriate law-enforcement agents to discuss safety issues they need to resolve.
“It’s always good to be reminded about security,” added Mir Yeshiva’s administrator. “It’s never enough.”
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What does, “all statistics agree that most abuse comes from the home” mean? Can you cite an example? Do you even know what your statement means?
all statistics agree that most abuse comes from the home
You hit the nail on the head! It’s been going on for years, and it’s so pathetic. Under the guise of education our children are subjected to so many wrong, unhealthy, or just plain harmful psychological or emotional abuse. Then there’s the predicament of untrained educators who have no understanding of child development, yet they have teaching or administrative positions. Why has this been enabled? Why is this an ongoing problem? Perhaps it’s because the focus or the priorities are not always on the appropriate issues. It’s almost as if it doesn’t matter how the material is presented as long… Read more »
But the rest of the staff (let’s add kitchen help, secretaries, principals to the list) are NOT screened. And as we know from the Kolkos & Mondrowitz of the frum world, to say nothing of the people in Williamsburg & Melbourne who are under investigation, EVERYONE who comes in contact with your kids should be screened. If they have nothing to hide, what’s the problem? One-job workers should be supervised AND NOT LEFT ALONE for a second, not even to use the bathroom. Protecting our kids is EVERYONE’S responsibility. One other thing: when a Rebbi/teacher is fired because of allegations… Read more »
it cost about $6 to check one mezuza each child does not have to bring in $5 to cover the cost, maybe 5 cents!
How brave of you #3
Rest assured. The bus drivers for all mosdos are fingerprinted. Under law (article 19a).
As well as physical security – let EACH CHILD BRING IN $5.00 TO HAVE THEIR class mezuzahs checked – especially in the OLD building mosdos. And if enyone wants to contribute to safety by donating extra for all the hallways to be checked etc. Older mosdos buidlings – you know who you are!!
this doesn’t take away from anything else. abuse is important and so is this. please understand this is what misaskim is involved in so thats why they made this.
the people who work in abuse should make something similar for abuse which btw there are these meetings all the time you just dont always hear about it
Kol Hakovod #3
By law, EVERY employee at any government-funded Head Start program has to undergo a thorough background check, including fingerprinting. These records are kept on file & YES…they ARE checked. in the 12 months since I was hired our files have been checked twice! What is wrong is that private/parochial schools that aren’t government funded aren’t mandated to do these screenings on their staff, including janitors, teachers, administrators, therapists, bus drivers…anyone who has access to children during school hours. A responsible school will do it anyway. Yes, it costs (fingerprinting is over $200) but what cost can there be if your… Read more »
What qualifies anyone to be a teacher in any of our Mosdos today? 1) He/she failed to get another job. 2) He/she is waiting to get a Shlichus but in the meantime he/she needs to feed his family. 3) He/she is related to someone in the administration. 4) He/she was a great counselor in camp. You get my drift. There are no demands put on anybody who applies for a job in any of of our Mosdos, he needs no training in any field related to Chinuch (I must say that by the “she’s” there is a little more training… Read more »
Fingerprints only help if someone already has a criminal record. Please remember that Leiby Kletzky’s murderer had no prior criminal record.
why can’t they be fingerprinted, is that so hard? I’m sure theres more to do too…..