NYC kids (and their weapons) back in HS

Some New York City students who began returning to in-person high school last month appear to be “packing” more than their lunch, a top NYPD official says.

Deputy Chief Olufunmilola Obe warned in a memo Tuesday that police have seen a surge in dangerous-weapons recoveries at Department of Education buildings since the reopening of city high schools last week.

“The increase coincides with the commencement of in-person learning at NYC public high schools on Monday, March 22 2021,” she wrote.

According to the memo, 25 unspecified weapons were recovered over the course of five days.

Obe wrote that seven of the 25 were discovered through metal detectors while another 12 were found at the “perimeter” of DOE buildings.

Another six weapons were taken directly off of students, the deputy chief wrote.

Greg Floyd — head of Teamsters Local 237, the school-safety agents union — said the news should alarm families.

“The group pushing for the NYPD to be taken out should take note of the job being done here to recover these weapons,” he said Wednesday. “I want to let parents know — you take the agents out of the schools and there will be no one to stop them from coming in.”

Floyd, who wants to block the transfer of school-safety duties from the NYPD to the DOE, also noted that only a fraction of city students are actually attending classes in their buildings this year, and that weapons incidents likely will rise further as the system opens up.

Floyd has been locked in a deepening feud with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams over school-safety responsibilities.

Williams and progressive groups have pushed to give the DOE control over school security, with some factions calling for the outright removal of all roughly 5,000 school-safety agents.

Those voices argue that the agents create a criminalized atmosphere in city schools and that more funds should be budgeted for social workers and guidance counselors.

Their affiliation with the NYPD, they assert, makes them an inappropriate presence in an educational setting.

Floyd has countered that the unarmed agents, who are 90 percent African-American and Hispanic, and 70 percent female, help maintain security in city schools.

You take the agents out of the schools and there will be no one to stop [these weapons] from coming in.

— Local 237 boss Greg Floyd (left)