PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Amid a rise in gun violence, the City of Philadelphia and its school district are working to ensure the safety of students as they begin classes in person.
The city is beefing up its programs before and after school hours, and the school district is once again forming “Safe Corridors” to schools.
Most Philadelphia students walk or ride SEPTA to school, and police officers can’t be everywhere.
School District of Philadelphia Head of School Safety Kevin Bethel says the aim of “Safe Corridors” volunteers is not only to provide an adult presence along the routes to schools, but to alert principals and police if they hear of brewing troubles in the community.
Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters at the city’s gun violence briefing Wednesday that advance information can prevent violence.
“What we’re talking about now is communication between principals and community folks, so that the police know how to deploy appropriately and are ready and can try to anticipate when things are happening or might happen,” Kenney said.
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Often, trouble outside a school’s walls determines whether a school safety officer is deployed there.
“In some cases we have school safety officers. who are not armed. working in our schools just because of the environment and the community that they are, and the amount of violence that occurs around that space,” Bethel said.
“We have about 14 corridors that really create a large, significant amount of challenges as our kids move from the high schools.”
140 children under 18 have been shot in Philadelphia so far this year.
The district plans to provide more social-emotional supports to students, but Bethel said everyone has a responsibility.
“This just can’t be a school issue, a police issue, a mayor issue, a city issue. It’s an all-of-us issue,” Bethel said.
“We have to look at it that way to ensure that folks feel safe.”
The city is providing more Out-of-School Time programs, giving children supervised activities in schools before and after the school day.
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