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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Student Advocate from Yaya Network
6:52:57
·
123 sec
A senior at Fort Hamilton High School and participant of the Yaya Network testifies about the uneven distribution of funding in schools, particularly regarding mental health resources and restorative justice programs. Despite significant funding for renovations, his school lacks adequate social workers and accessible restorative justice programs.
- He argues that if his well-funded school in an upper-middle-class neighborhood lacks proper mental health resources, schools in economically depressed areas must be severely underfunded.
- He urges the council to increase funding for restorative justice programs, stating that the current $6 million baseline is insufficient.
- He emphasizes the need for equity in resource allocation, especially for schools in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods.
High School Student
6:52:57
Good afternoon council members.
6:52:58
My name is Kyle Lynn.
6:52:59
I'm a senior at Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge and a participant of the Yaya Network.
6:53:05
In 2022, the DOE allocated $323,000,000 to school budgets to make up for the enrollment drops.
6:53:11
My school received the most with $303,500,000.
6:53:15
This does not even include the $5,000,000 our school received to renovate our track and field.
6:53:20
It is clear to me that I go to a well funded school even for one with about 5,000 students.
6:53:25
However, with all this funding, not a single penny was used to hire new social workers or fund their restorative justice team.
6:53:32
In fact, a large portion of our student population doesn't even know about these resources.
6:53:36
Freshmen can't even join our Freshmen aren't even able to join our restorative justice team because they operate during their class hours.
6:53:44
However, how are 5,000 students expected to share two social workers?
6:53:49
So while my school does have more mental health and restorative justice resources than others, they're extremely underfunded and inaccessible.
6:53:56
I know my school doesn't have an issue with finding funding considering the amount of renovations we've had in just my four years there.
6:54:02
Fort Hamilton High School is situated in a predominantly upper white upper middle class neighborhood.
6:54:07
Why would we have a funding issue?
6:54:09
So why is it that we couldn't receive a brand new track and field, cafeteria, playground, and basketball and tennis courts, but not any new social workers or resources to make the restorative justice seem more accessible?
6:54:20
If my school isn't receiving proper mental health and restorative justice resources, then I can't imagine how underfunded predominantly black and brown schools in economically depressed neighborhoods are.
6:54:30
I urge you to consider my school's example of the desperate need for more funding for restorative justice programs.
6:54:37
Baselining 6,000,000 for these programs is a step in the right direction.
6:54:42
But we envision a future where all schools can have robust restorative justice programs with sufficient staffing.
High School Student
6:54:49
All of
High School Student
6:54:49
this so schools like mine won't pour millions of dollars into sports while turning a blind eye to mental health.
6:54:54
And so red line schools in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods can get equity and the resources they deserve.
6:54:59
Thank you for your time.