New York Post - 13.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 13, 2019

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Lottery

By SELIM ALGAR

Education Reporter

The knives are out in city

schools — with seizures of the

weapons up a staggering 92 per-

cent since 2015, disturbing new

data show.

The confiscated blades helped

push last year’s overall weapons

seizures to a nearly five-year high,

according to a Post analysis of the

NYPD statistics.

“Nothing has changed,” la-

mented Greg Floyd, president of

the school-safety agents union,

Monday. “The numbers keep ris-

ing year by year. This just means

that more children are bringing

knives to school because they

know other kids are bringing

knives to school.”

A total of 1,677 knives — nearly

one for every city school — were

found on students during the past

academic year, according to the

stats. That’s up drastically from

the 873 blades seized in city

schools in the 2014-2015 year.

The worrisome increase in knife

possession in schools hit home es-

pecially in 2017, when a Bronx

teen fatally stabbed one classmate

and injured another — the city’s

first classroom slaying in 25 years.

Killer student Abel Cedeno

claimed that he just snapped after

months of bullying for being gay.

He was found guilty of man-

slaughter, weapons possession

and assault last month and now

faces up to 50 years in prison.

Floyd argued that rampant bul-

lying in the city’s schools is con-

tributing to student armament —

and that increasingly lax punish-

ment policies are only exacerbat-

ing the problem.

“We remain hopeful that the

new chancellor will recognize that

bullying is an integral part of

school safety,” Floyd said of

schools boss Richard Carranza,

“because if this isn’t truly ad-

dressed, kids are going to take

matters into their own hands.”

Overall, weapons recovery in

schools dipped slightly last year,

dropping to 2,701 from 2,718 dur-

ing the 2017-2018 school year.

Still, weapons seizures in city

schools are up by 60 percent since

2015, when 1,673 weapons were re-

covered.

A DOE spokesman said the rise

in knife possession can be attrib-

uted to an increase in unan-

nounced metal-detector scanning

that began two years ago.

In addition to the pop-up scan-

ners, the DOE has metal detectors

permanently installed at roughly

90 school buildings.

Of the 2,701 weapons seized last

year, 1,171 — or 43 percent — were

detected by scanners, according to

the NYPD.

The DOE rep also contended

that improved school climate is

making students and staffers more

comfortable in reporting the pres-

ence of weapons.

“Our schools are safe and get-

ting safer,” said the spokesman,

Will Mantell.

‘Cutting’ class: Knife

busts soar in schools

Gov. Cuomo on Monday signed a

bill toughening New York state’s

workplace sexual-harassment pro-

tections, delivering a victory to ad-

vocates who have championed

change throughout the 2019 legisla-

tive session.

Victims of sexual harassment no

longer have to prove their mistreat-

ment was “severe or pervasive” as

defined under current standards.

The new law expands that defini-

tion to include conduct that rises

above “petty slights or trivial incon-

veniences.”

The measure was a top priority

this session, as freshman lawmakers

spearheaded the first hearings on

the issue in almost 30 years in re-

sponse to a demand from ex-legisla-

tive staffers known as the “Sexual

Harassment Working Group” who

had been preyed upon by former

bosses.

Victims of the late Brooklyn As-

semblyman and sex harasser Vito

Lopez are co-founders of the group.

Lopez was accused of harassment

in 2012 by female staffers for inap-

propriate acts. He resigned in 2013

following an investigation by the

Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

“By ending the absurd legal stan-

dard that sexual harassment in the

workplace needs to be ‘severe or

pervasive’ and making it easier for

workplace sexual-harassment

claims to be brought forward, we

are sending a strong message that

time is up on sexual harassment in

the workplace and setting the stan-

dard of equality for women,”

Cuomo said.

The new law — which will take

effect in three phases starting in 60

days — amends the Human Rights

Law to cover all employers in the

state, both public and private, and

raises the statute of limitations for

claims filed with the Division of

Human Rights up to three years.

Going forward, all nondisclosure

agreements in employment con-

tracts will be prohibited from ban-

ning an employee’s ability to file a

complaint with a state or local

agency and testify in a government

investigation.

The bill also sets into motion a

study analyzing sexual-harassment

policies, requiring a thorough re-

view every four years.

“In 2018, a group of former legis-

lative staffers came forward to de-

mand justice for the years of sexual

harassment they endured at the

hands of powerful lawmakers and

state agencies. Today, we are taking

that power and putting it in the

hands of survivors and working

people of New York,” said state Sen.

Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx), a bill

sponsor and sexual-abuse survivor.

But members of the business

community are concerned, particu-

larly with a section barring the use

of mandatory arbitration in settle-

ment agreements, and another that

strips employers of liability protec-

tions. Bernadette Hogan

New law: Time’s up for workplace predators

BLADES AND GRADES

Weapons seizures in city schools over the past five school years:

YEAR KNIVES OVERALL

2014-15 873 1,

2015-16 1,139 2,

2016-17 1,176 2,

2017-18 1,551 2,

2018-19 1,677 2,

Source: NYPD