D.A. Singas to state: Upgrade school violence reporting

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With Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas calling on the State Board of Regents to revamp New York’s school violence tracking system so gang attacks, discrimination and bullying are reported faster, East Meadow school officials are focusing on student safety.

According to Singas, it can take up to two years for incidents to appear on New York’s Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting System. The state recently reworked the system, but Singas said the changes did not go far enough, arguing that they failed “to provide a framework that will facilitate timely, consistent and comprehensive reporting of school violence.

“In 2016, we should not settle for a system that provides parents and policymakers with sparse, inconsistent, two-year-old data,” she said. “Our kids deserve safe schools in which to learn, and we all deserve accurate and timely information about violent and disruptive incidents.”

Marcee Rubinstein, president of the East Meadow School District Board of Education, said that although Singas’s proposal is fairly new to board members, student safety is the top priority. “If there are incidents that need to be reported earlier for the safety of our students, then I think we need to work together to make that happen,” she said. “Safety is key here.”

Donna La Scala, the East Meadow PTA Council president, said that parents are constantly trying to find new ways to keep their children safe on school grounds, and Singas’s plan will bring them one step closer to their goal.

“I think the proposal is a great thing,” La Scala said. “If it’s going to be able to tackle the problem of bullying faster, and if it’s going to help parents get a better understanding of what incidents are occurring at the schools, then it’ll go a long way to help us identify ways of stopping these incidents.”

La Scala said that the PTA Council already focuses on ways to help put an end to bullying in schools.

“I think that would be a great asset to parents and educators,” La Scala added. “Instead of waiting and waiting to see what type of violence happens in our schools, parents and teachers should be able to see these reports in a timely manner.”

Singas offered six recommendations to the Board of Regents, including:

  • The state should provide real-time reporting of school violence. Under the current system, reports of violence are collected once a year, at the end of the school year, and become public in spread sheets two years later. 
  • Gang activity should be reported under the new system.
  • Discrimination, harassment or bullying because of race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation or gender should be reported in its own category.
  • Violence against students because of their gender identity or gender expression should be reported in its own category.
  • With the heroin epidemic raging across New York, particularly on Long Island, drug-related incidents should be reported in greater detail. The types of drugs involved should be included in the reporting.
  • All incidents of discrimination, harassment and bullying should be reported. Under the new system, only verified incidents are to be listed.

“There is literally nothing more important than protecting our children," said Jeanne Beattie, a State Board of Regents spokeswoman. "It’s impossible for a child to focus on learning if she goes to school in fear each day."

Proposed changes in the reporting system, Beattie said, "are intended to make the process of reporting violent and disruptive acts less complicated and to place a greater emphasis on violent offenses. The [Education] Department will carefully review and consider all of the public comments received.”