City School Board Candidate Claims, Reduction of Police in Schools is an Opportunity

With the announcement of the reduction of police from Rochester City Schools, School Board Candidate, David Atias is saying that this could be a blessing in disguise.

(Rochester) With the announcement of the reduction of police from Rochester City Schools, School Board Candidate, David Atias is saying that this could be a blessing in disguise. “The officers in the schools have been doing a tremendous job, but both the school district and police department knew the money wouldn’t be there forever. We should take this opportunity to start working with our children more intensively on self-discipline,” says Atias.

Along with the teaching of the traditional “3R’s” of reading, writing and arithmetic, Atias is calling for the district to establish guidelines for all city schools to emphasize three new “R’s”: Respect, Responsibility and Restitution. “There are already pockets within the district that are doing this, but we need to make it district-wide. At the same time, it has been my experience that anything of this magnitude imposed on people from above will be met by resistance because there is no ownership of the changes. Therefore, the district should tell each school they should be creating a climate of Respect, Responsibility and Restitution – how each school does it is up to them. There are a number of models that can be emulated.”

The new “3R’s” can be briefly explained as follows:

Respect: Each person connected with the school district (students, staff and parents) must respect themselves, each other and their schools.

Responsibility: Each person must take responsibility for his/her behavior.

Restitution: Create a process in which those who behave inappropriately make amends to those affected by the behavior.

Atias knows there are outside influences on student behaviors but he says it has been his experience with Rochester’s toughest children at Hillside Children's Center and St. Joseph’s Villa, that has given him the confidence that this approach will work.

“I’m not talking about circumventing the current district Code of Conduct. But by creating a different climate within each school, where children are valued, they will behave more appropriately for the simple reason that they will want to be there. I know this change in attitude will not happen overnight, this is a journey to safer schools. If the police are leaving the schools, it is the perfect opportunity to take the initial steps of this journey. It is our only realistic option.” A position paper with more detail on this is forthcoming.

Atias is running for a seat on the Rochester City School Board as a Green. He is currently the only person on the ballot, but will face the winner of a Democratic primary.