Bronx Councilman Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15), chair of the city council committee on public safety, held a joint hearing with the city council committee on education on Wednesday, April 29, to evaluate the operations of school safety agents (SSAs) and school crossing guards (SCGs).

                                                            

According to his office, during the oversight hearing, council members questioned the effectiveness of current protocols and learned that on top of the 10% vacancy rate, “20% of SSAs are absent on any given day, leaving posts understaffed and students under protected.”

 

Officials from Feliz’s office added that requests for crossing guards often go unaddressed, leaving parents and educators anxious for their safety. They said that in addition to being understaffed, scanning schools are forced to rely on aging equipment that frequently breaks down, making students late and discouraging attendance.

 

They said school safety agents and crossing guards risk their lives to keep students safe, yet they said the lack of sufficient pay has made it difficult to retain and recruit qualified applicants, with both making $19 an hour.

 

“This oversight has viewed numerous operational deficiencies affecting SSAs and SCGs,” Feliz said. “The line between maintaining students safe cannot be determined by the continuous issues with retention rates and dysfunctional equipment. I look forward to working with the administration, NYPD, and DOE to address the shortage of agents and systemic inefficiencies.”

 

In February, two teens were slashed outside Marie Curie High School in Kingsbridge Heights. As reported, in June 2024, an off-duty school safety agent was arrested for assault. In April 2022, an SSA was stabbed at P.S. 69 school in the Soundview section of The Bronx, after he intervened to stop a domestic violence situation that carried over to the workplace.

 

In June 2021, an off-duty female SSA was arrested for criminal mischief in The Bronx, and the same month, another off duty SSA was also arrested on assault charges. One month before, another off-duty SSA was arrested for assault an endangering a child. In July 2020, an off-duty SSA was arrested and charged with possession of an ammunition feeding device.

 

In July 2023, Norwood News readers weighed in on the possible expansion of the wearing of bulletproof vests by SSAs in the wake of a string of school safety related incidents.

When it comes to school safety, in 2022, one Bronx mom was left enraged and shaken after a 17-year-old was arrested for gun possession inside a Harlem School her kids attended. Meanwhile some Bronx students, including Sistas & Brothas United, the youth arm of local nonprofit, Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, and some adults often rail against the presence of metal detectors in schools, while other concerned parents call for more security.

 

Some parents gave their reaction to school safety following the fatal shooting on February 11 of 16-year-old high school student and football player Christopher Redding at Broadway and West 239th Street in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx.

 

For some related coverage of violence in schools and in the vicinity of schools, including one in which a teacher was shot at inside a school, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

 

Last year in October, former NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced the roll-out of what he said was the “first-in-the-nation” 911 rapid response technology for active shooters in New York City public schools. After publishing the story, Norwood News was contacted by a representative for a company called Centegix, a “provider of wearable panic buttons for K-12 schools,” and the person alleged that the New York City public school system was not the first in the nation to have direct 911 access, and that “they” have been doing this since 2019.

 

When we followed up with the mayor’s office on the feedback we received from the company, we were referred to NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, and a representative said they would be happy to explain what they meant when they said that the New York City public school system was the first in the nation to fully integrate schools with a 911 system, which they stood by as a true statement. Norwood News has not yet had the chance to follow up with the department on this point but we will do so and share their feedback.

 

In February, federal prosecutors announced the unsealing of an indictment charging both a former commanding officer of the NYPD School Safety Division (“SSD”) Kevin Taylor of Yonkers and a Florida businessman, Geno Roefaro, with bribery and related offenses. They said Taylor was specifically accused of leveraging his role to solicit bribes from Roefaro and extort employees.

 

They said Roefaro was the founder, majority owner, and CEO of a company that markets and sells cellphone-based tipline applications to school districts and police departments. They said that in or about summer 2022, Roefaro began attempting to sell his products to the New York City government through seemingly legitimate means.

 

They said when those legitimate efforts did not progress to his liking, Roefaro chose to bribe Taylor on multiple occasions with multiple cash payments, vacation payments, entertainment experiences, and dining at high-end restaurants in exchange for Taylor advising and pressuring others to procure goods and services from Roefaro’s company.

 

They said Taylor also solicited and attempted to extort as much as $75,000 from two employees of a second company that had contracted with the NYPD to outfit the SSD’s members with ballistic vests. Both Taylor and Roefaro are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Norwood News asked federal prosecutors at the time if there was any connection between Roefaro’s company and the 911 technology contract announced by Adams in October 2025. [We have no information to suggest that there might be but just asked.] We did not receive an immediate response and after following up a few times, on April 30, a spokesperson for the United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York said, “We cannot confirm or provide any guidance.”

Last year, New York State implemented a cell phone ban for students during the school day.

 

Following the recent oversight hearing held by Feliz, a resident later commented, “@oswaldfeliz I just wanna say thank you for standing up for us in School safety you and the other members ask great questions and hopefully something positive will come out from these hearings.”

 

As reported, City Council Bill Intro 0175B-2026, sponsored by Bronx Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), which would require the police commissioner to establish a plan to address and contain the risk of physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation, and interference at educational facilities, while preserving and protecting the rights to free speech, assembly, and protest, according to Dinowitz’s office, was vetoed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on free speech grounds. Read more here. More to follow.

 

Dinowitz and Feliz are reportedly key allies of City Council Speaker Julie Menin (C.D. 5) who is also supportive of Dinowitz’s bill.

In March, Feliz was joined by Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, in presenting a check a check of a $1.35 million for auditorium renovations to Fordham High School for the Arts, located in the Belmont section of The Bronx, a school where metal detectors/scanners are utilized.

Meanwhile, residents in Norwood have long complained about the overcrowding and chaos along East 207th Street between Bainbridge Avenue and Perry Avenue, where Success Academy Charter School [formerly the location of St. Brendan Catholic School] is located, as parents pick up their kids around 3 p.m. at the end of the school day.

Norwood News has reached out to the NYPD for comment on the latest hearing since the school safety division falls under the remit of the NYPD. We will share any feedback we receive.