Following the recent assault and hospitalization of a paraprofessional at the Henderson Inclusion School in Dorchester, the discussion of school safety emerged again Sunday in remarks from the superintendent and a community advocate who said the district was facing a “crisis.”
“We have in the city of Boston a crisis of public safety in the schools, which has been ignored by Mayor Wu,” said Rev. Eugene Rivers at a Father’s Day press conference calling on Black fathers to organize against violence.
“We want to get together roughly 100 Black men that would work trying to to engage the principals of these schools where there is recurring violence,” Rivers said, gesturing to children present at the conference. “We’re here to defend young kids like this.”
Rivers’ remarks, made on a front porch in Dorchester, came just hours after Superintendent Mary Skipper spoke on the issue WCVB’s On the Record.
“Safety is our top priority,” Skipper said. “Always will be. Physical, social, emotional. And I think you know, the Henderson has certainly had a very difficult couple of years with a lot of trauma. Frankly, we need to be worried about all schools.”
The superintendent’s remarks follow an incident last Tuesday at the Henderson School in which a paraprofessional intervened in a student conflict and was attacked and hospitalized. The juvenile student reportedly faced disciplinary actions at the school and an aggravated assault charge.
Skipper spoke about several safety initiatives, including the proposed Community Connections Coordinators intended to monitor student safety risks in and outside of schools and a new peer mediation program currently training 65 BPS students on conflict mitigation.
The superintendent was also asked about controversial metal detector and police in school policies and did not speak directly to support or oppose the measures, instead emphasizing current strategies.
Metal detectors are currently available to schools which request them on a case by case basis. School police officers were removed from BPS schools in 2021 and replaced by safety officers who cannot arrest students.
Skipper did not express support for a return to police in schools but spoke of the district’s “strong partnership” with BPD.
“When there is an issue that requires additional support, we also have to have that trusting relationship, and the line has to be very clear, what’s BPD’s responsibility and what’s our responsibility,” Skipper said.
Rivers cited a MassINC poll released in April showing that 68% of BPS parents are concerned about school safety, with higher percentages of concern from Black, Latino and Asian parents.
He said the violence issues would be discussed further at the Violence Reduction Taskforce meeting at the Charles Street AME Church in Roxbury on Wednesday.
