News

De Blasio Administration Announces New School Climate Initiatives to Make NYC Schools Safer, Fairer and More Transparent
July 21, 2016
The de Blasio Administration today announced the second phase of its roadmap to promote safe schools and end overly punitive school discipline policies. The changes announced today end suspensions for students in kindergarten through second grade, replacing suspensions with more age-appropriate discipline techniques. The reforms add more than $47 million annually to support school climate initiatives and mental health services – conducted in partnership with ThriveNYC – and set clear protocols for the removal or addition of scanners in schools while also expanding NYPD school-based data that is reported publicly.

Mayor de Blasio Announces Roadmap to Reduce Punitive School Discipline and Make Schools Safer
November 2, 2015
Mayor de Blasio today announced a roadmap to promote safe schools and end overly punitive school discipline policies, which disproportionately affect students of color and students with disabilities. Announced in partnership with Department of Education Chancellor Carmen Farina, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, and the City Council, the roadmap includes additional training for police officers in how to de-escalate school conflicts, expanded access to behavioral health treatment options in high needs schools, and increased training and support for school personnel in non-punitive school disciplinary strategies.

De Blasio Administration Announces Proposal to Make New York City Schools Safer With Fewer Student Arrests, Suspensions, and Summonses
July 23, 2015
City leaders, educators, and community stakeholders today presented the de Blasio Administration with recommendations to promote school safety while also reducing student arrests, suspensions, and summonses. These ten proposals, developed by the Mayor’s Leadership Team on School Climate and Discipline, aim to improve the environment at schools with high rates of arrests, summonses and suspensions; reduce racial and special education disparities in discipline; and incentivize schools to adopt discipline policies that support students’ long-term success.

City Announces School Climate Reforms
February 13, 2015
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña today announced a series of school climate and discipline reforms – developed in partnership with the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice – that will ensure the safety and dignity of New York City’s students, and hasten the decline of crime in our schools. In addition to the coordination and collaboration across City agencies, the work of the City Council, other elected officials, and community stakeholders has been invaluable in this revision of the discipline code and continued movement towards progressive disciplinary approaches.