PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joseph Rosenberg, Executive Director of Catholic Community Relations Council
3:27:26
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135 sec
Joseph Rosenberg, representing the Catholic Community Relations Council, strongly supports Intro 532, which would expand eligibility for non-public schools to receive funding for security guards. He argues that this bill would increase safety for children, faculty, and staff in non-public schools by removing the current 300-student minimum requirement.
- The bill would allow an additional 78 Catholic schools to participate in the program.
- Rosenberg emphasizes the need for expanded security measures due to increasing religious hate crimes and school violence.
- He highlights the high performance of Catholic schools in NYC, with over 98% graduation rates and a diverse student body.
Joseph Rosenberg
3:27:26
Okay.
3:27:27
I'll start.
3:27:29
Good afternoon.
3:27:30
I'm Joseph Rosenberg, director of the Catholic Community Relations Council representing the Archdiocese of New York and thediocese of Brooklyn and Queens.
3:27:37
We strongly support intro 532, a bill that would help increase the safety of children, faculty, and staff at non public schools throughout our city by expanding an important school security guard program passed by the council in 2015.
3:27:49
Ensuring the health and safety of school children and protecting them from violence is a priority for all of us.
3:27:55
New York City's public schools, for example, have had a security guard system in place for many years.
3:27:59
The tens of thousands of children in our city's non public schools, however, did not have such a program until 2015.
3:28:06
And that was when the New York City Council recognized this inequity and by a vote of 43 to 4 past local law 2.
3:28:13
The law allowed non public schools to hire uniform school security agents and be reimbursed for this course by the city of New York.
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More than 200 non public schools, including Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic schools currently are in this program.
3:28:26
But local law 2 is deficient in that only schools with 300 or more students can be part of this initiative.
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As a result, non public schools with enrollments as large as 299 students are not eligible.
3:28:37
Intro 532 would rectify this problem.
3:28:40
It allows all non public schools to be eligible for this program regardless of the size of their student enrollment, This change significantly increases the number of non public schools citywide that will be entitled to higher school safety guards to help protect their students, their faculty, and their staff.
3:28:56
The Catholic schools in New York City have over 80 schools with 300 more students that participate in this program.
3:29:01
Passing this field would enable an additional 78 Catholic schools to hire security guards and be reimbursed.
3:29:08
The Catholic schools of New York have a New York City have a longstanding history of excellence with high school graduation rates of over 98%.
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These young people re reflect the demographics of their local communities with over 60% being students of color.
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They and their counterparts in Jewish and Islamic schools deserve to be safe.
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With the number of religious hate crimes increasing our city and episodes of horrific violence, Again, school children in our country becoming commonplace.
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Security measures to protect these young people should be expanded.
3:29:37
On behalf of parents, children, and faculty, we urge the passage of this bill.
3:29:41
Thank you.
