NYC expands program to help private schools hire security guards

New York’s Staten Island. A program to assist private schools in hiring security guards has been expanded by New York City.

On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams declared that he had approved legislation to extend a program that reimburses private schools for the expenses associated with hiring security personnel.

Even at our private schools, families shouldn’t have to worry about their children’s education. In order to keep our kids secure at any school, we are increasing the reimbursement programs for school security guards, Adams stated.

At the moment, the initiative is exclusively open to private schools with more than 300 students. Councilmember Justin Brannan is the sponsor of the bill, Intro. 532-A, which raises the annual spending maximum set forth in the current law and extends the program to include additional schools.

First, schools with 150 or more kids would be eligible if the qualifying criteria were lowered.

Furthermore, certain charter schools that aren’t housed in an existing public school facility would be added to the program.

Nothing is more vital than keeping our children safe, thus safety and security in our schools should never be negotiable, Brannan added. We are aware that the city’s Nonpublic School Security Guard program has been successfully implemented thus far. It just makes sense to expand it to include more of our children and schools. Children can concentrate on their studies when we look out for their safety. Better educational results and a more promising future for all of us are the results of that.

On Monday, Adams also signed another law to enhance the enrollment procedure for health insurance for city employees who move between municipal departments.

When an employee moves from one municipal agency to another, the bill, Intro. 265-A, which was sponsored by Councilmember Rita Joseph, would require agencies to do everything in their power to speed up any administrative procedures pertaining to continuing city-administered health insurance coverage.

Additionally, the bill mandates that when an employee starts working for a municipal agency, the agency must give them comprehensive information about how to access city-administered benefits. This information must include the deadlines for any steps the employee needs to take to enroll in health insurance as well as the contact details of those in the agency who can offer advice on city-administered benefits.

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