PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With the start of classes one week away, Mayor Jim Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw plan to hold a news conference Monday to discuss school safety.
"As you know, last year, we had an unfortunate number of schools that had shootings outside of their schools," said Kevin Bethel, special advisor on school safety at the School District of Philadelphia. Speaking before the Philadelphia Board of Education on Thursday, the former deputy police commissioner said 267 students under the age of 18 were shot last year in the city.
Bethel told the board that the Police Department has established 29 patrol zones, encompassing 40 schools in high-crime areas.
"We have primarily been focusing on many of our schools that have historical violence," he said.
Inside a school is one of the safest places for a child to be, said Superintendent Tony Watlington, but he acknowledged there is violence outside the school walls.
Related
In an interview with KYW Newsradio, Watlington said the special police patrols would continue this school year.
"Chief Kevin Bethel and myself have been meeting with Commissioner Outlaw and her staff throughout the summer to make sure that … we continue those safety zones in the patrols around schools," Watlington said.
"It is a challenging, daunting process, with so many kids moving through the system and the layout of this city to cover all of the corridors across the city," Bethel said. "We're really trying to be very deliberate and focused on those schools that have the greatest need."
Efforts to curb violence will continue inside schools as well, Watlington said.
Related
"We'll continue to use metal detectors for our high schoolers as they come into school buildings,” said the superintendent. “And at the same time, we want to also really build trusting relationships with our students and our families — that kind of 'see something, say something' approach that people are more comfortable with doing when they have an established relationship with a trusting adult.”
In the long term, solid academics can curb violence, Watlington said.
"I strongly believe that, when kids get a good, strong reading background in the early grades in elementary school, they have much more success and less likelihood of experiencing or participating in violent acts."