Community Board 11 wants more security at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. According to an article published by the Queens Chronicle, the board voted to ask the Department of Education for more safety officers because Cardozo has only four now, down from 12 that there was prior
Our very own principal, Meagan Colby, worries about safety with fewer officers and more students. According to Jena Lanzetta, chair of the panel’s education committee, “She’s whittled down to four safety agents in a school building that now has an Annex and over 3,000 students. It’s not a good situation.”
The Board thinks the way incidents are counted might not show the whole picture. Lanzetta mentioned, “The more reports and incidents of school files on OORS, it looks badly upon schools, so some things do not always get reported.” With over 3,300 students and a new Annex, safety is a big concern. They also mentioned that when P.S. 203, an elementary school nearby, is short on officers, Cardozo sends one over, making things worse for Cardozo overall. The DOE said to ask the NYPD about this, but they didn’t respond.
It is clear that increased security in a school can make a huge difference, as it puts more bodies in the hallways and in the section between the main building and the Annex. The more security agents that the school has, the more safe students can be, overall.
