PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Bracha Rutner, Head of School at Yeshiva University High School for Girls, on School Security
3:21:52
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118 sec
Bracha Rutner, representing Yeshiva University High School for Girls, testified in support of expanding security guard funding for non-public schools with fewer than 300 students. She emphasized the importance of protecting all students, regardless of school size, especially in light of increased global tensions and school shooting incidents.
- Rutner highlighted the financial pressure on smaller schools to provide adequate security, noting they may be perceived as "soft targets" due to insufficient resources.
- She mentioned the school's recent addition of an extra security guard following the events of October 7th, which has increased financial strain on the school and families.
- Rutner urged consideration of lowering the 300-student threshold for security funding, arguing that every student deserves protection regardless of their school's size.
Bracha Rutner
3:21:52
My name is Robert Ratner.
3:21:57
My name is Bretha Rutner.
3:21:59
I represent Yashuba University High School for Girls located in Queens.
3:22:04
And I think that there isn't always so much that we agree upon, but I think that we definitely agree that the safety of our children comes first.
3:22:12
Even before October 7th, but certainly since then, I have worried incredibly about my students.
3:22:18
We've seen a continued increase in school shootings around the country, and we're very worried that our students need to be safe.
3:22:28
Data shows that even students schools under 300 are facing similar security risks as larger schools, but we often lack the resources to protect our students.
3:22:39
We might therefore be perceived as soft targets because we don't have sufficient security.
3:22:45
I know that since October 7th, we added an extra security guard, which is an increasing financial pressure on both our school and our families We don't have the economics of scale of of larger schools, and we're very worried.
3:23:01
There have been global tensions rising since October 7th that are clearly going to have an impact on all of our schools in New York.
3:23:09
And we really need to go ahead and increase our funding.
3:23:13
Every student deserves protection no matter how small their school is and this policies that we have should reflect that reality.
3:23:23
We really want to go ahead and protect our students, and they are our most vulnerable population.
3:23:31
Who can argue with protecting kids, knowing that they can come to school every single day and be safe.
3:23:40
So I hope that we will consider lowering the threshold below 300 to provide added security for our students to protect them.
3:23:49
Thank you.
