SENATOR GRIFFO TAKES ACTION TO KEEP OUR SCHOOLS SAFE AND PROTECT NY'S CHILDREN

Members of the New York State Senate Majority today announced action on a comprehensive plan to enhance school safety and ensure the well-being of millions of children across the State.

The Senate's three-prong plan includes: rejecting Governor Spitzer's proposal to remove School Resource Officers (SROs) from schools across the State; restoring funding for the State office that conducts criminal background checks on school employees; and the passage of legislation to combat the growing problem of child pornography, internet predators and the sexual exploitation of children.

Keeping School Resource Officers in Schools
The Senate budget will reject the Governor's proposal to remove School Resource Officers from schools across the State. At a recent public hearing, State Police officials made a compelling case regarding the critical role SROs play in ensuring a safe learning environment, as well as in fighting crime in local communities. In just the current school year, State Police SROs responded to more than 2,500 criminal calls, made over 1,000 arrests and confiscated nearly 100 illegal weapons.

As a result of information provided by students, an SRO was able to prevent a planned attack in one public school that was to coincide with a recent anniversary of the Columbine school shootings. In other cases, SROs have intervened to prevent more than 170 potential suicides, regularly acting as mentors to troubled students.

"These Troopers provide not only a police presence in the schools, but also a trustworthy adult whom students can turn to for advice and guidance," said Daniel DeFedericis, president of the State Police PBA, in recent testimony on the state budget.

"School Resource Officers have proven themselves to be an invaluable means of providing safety for our students," said David A. Little, Director of Governmental Operations for the New York State School Boards Association. "The loss of these professionals cannot simply be replaced by other security officers. SROs are professional and effective, and have the interpersonal skills to make students at ease and comfortable in confiding risks, concerns and threats. Their loss would mean more than merely shifting costs to local taxpayers, it would mean the loss of security for the students they protect. New Yorkers can afford neither."

"State Troopers serving as school resource officers have done more than help school districts respond to disturbances," said Thomas Rogers, Executive Director of the New York State Council of Superintendents. "The Troopers have played a leadership role in enabling superintendents to be proactive and improve the climate in schools. We support Senate efforts to keep these valued professionals working as school resource officers."

Restoring Funds For Background Checks
In 2000, the Senate approved legislation that requires all prospective school employees be fingerprinted to undergo an FBI background check. In addition, this law required school districts to directly report to law enforcement all criminal allegations involving suspected abuse of a child by a school employee.

According to a 2007 State Education Department Report, the law has been effective, with nearly 1,400 applicants being denied clearance to work in a school setting after the criminal background check revealed they were unfit to work with children.

In addition, the number of reports involving teacher misconduct more than doubled since 2001. While these numbers are alarming, they make clear that more children are now being protected by a law that was crafted to stop the old practice of districts sweeping criminal behavior under the rug, or passing off potentially unfit employees to another unsuspecting school.

In spite of the clear need for strong financial support for the State Education Department’s Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA) -- the entity which handles background checks -- the Governor has proposed cutting funding to OSPRA’s budget. The Senate will restore this funding cut by $425,000, while also providing an additional $600,000 for staffing and resources to more quickly resolve the existing backlog of OSPRA cases. The Senate Majority's Budget proposal will ensure that OSPRA can continue to carry out its critical role in keeping our schools safe.

Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Act of 2008
The Senate will act on the "Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Act of 2008," that would enact aggressive measures to protect children from the dangers posed by Internet predators, child pornography and child sexual abuse.

This comprehensive legislation will:
> Toughen penalties for promoting child prostitution;
> Increase penalties for producing child pornography;
> Provide enhanced penalties where a sex crime against a child has been committed using a computer or computer   service;
> Increase the penalty for persons who permit their premises to be used for child prostitution;
> Allow the admission of business records into evidence in child pornography grand jury proceedings via affidavit;
> Allow a "non-judicial" subpoena to be issued by a district attorney or the Attorney General for child pornography via the internet; and
> Require local social services districts, when possible, to establish safe houses for sexually abused children.

The bill comes amid a dramatic expansion of networking and video sharing sites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com, which present additional challenges to parents seeking to monitor their children's activities on the Internet.

Last month, the Senate passed Attorney General Cuomo’s e-STOP initiative (Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act) that requires sex offenders to register their online identifiers and updates Megan’s Law for the Internet age (S.6875-A). The Senate also passed legislation (S.1921-A) to increase criminal penalties for using a computer to commit a sex crime against a child.

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