Fewer Security Guards In Detroit Schools Due To Budget Cuts
DETROIT (WWJ) - Budget cuts mean fewer security guards this year in the Detroit Public Schools, and teachers are not happy about it.
District officials aren't saying how many guards were pink-slipped, but Detroit Federation of Teachers Interim President Ivy Bailey says any cuts are too many.
"Things happen in a school in an instant," Bailey told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill, "and having a security person there, they can deter some of those things."
"Teachers are supposed to be in classrooms teaching children. That is their primary focus."
Bailey said she herself witnessed an incident when she was a teacher at Spain Elementary.
"We had a parent that came into the building, irate, trying to go past the security to get to a teacher. The teacher was able to detain that parent, deescalate the situation," Bailey said.
Bailey estimated that, on a daily basis, there are three or four such incidents in any given school.
She said the DFT plans to meet with the district's state-appointed emergency manager to discuss their concerns.
"You know, I just feel like the resources need to be put back into the schools. What's happening is that we are not putting the children first," she said. "...Safety and security has already been part of our message, but now our message has to be stronger."
DPS officials note that the schools are still patrolled by armed school police officers.
