By Cynthia Koons
On Monday, John Bowne High School in Flushing and Springfield Gardens High School in Springfield Gardens were designated “impact schools” – a status that brings extra officers to the school's hallways. That same day Far Rockaway High School and Franklin K. Lane High School on the Ridgewood border were taken off the list.Six school safety officers lined the entrance hallway to John Bowne High School at 63-25 Main St. Tuesday as police from the 109th Precinct brought in two female students who were apparently caught cutting school that morning. The school falls within the 107th Precinct, but an officer at the 109th said the students often congregate on the streets in Flushing.Principal Frank McQuail refused to talk to the TimesLedger newspapers about the school's new designation.”It's not that surprising,” said Sonja, a 15-year-old Bowne student. “Twice a week there is a fight or threats.”But another student, 16-year-old Brandon, said “it's a safe school, but there are about two fights a week — sometimes gang-related but mostly high school stuff.” According to the statistics Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and the Police Department used to determine the six new impact schools, which include John Bowne and Springfield Gardens, they comprises 0.5 percent of the public school system yet account for 8.5 percent of the major crimes and 6.6 percent of the overall crimes in schools citywide. The enrollment at John Bowne High School, was 3,523 in 2003. At Springfield Gardens High School it was 1,624, according to the most recent annual report card, which chronicled the 2002-2003 school year. At John Bowne High School, 2.8 of every 1,000 students are involved in major crimes and 4.8 of every 1,000 are involved in other crimes, statistics show. At Springfield Gardens, the latest statistics show that 3.1 of every 1,000 students are involved in major crimes handled by the Police Department, while 10.5 out of every 1,000 are involved in other crimes. “A year ago, we promised to provide a safe atmosphere, free from fear and intimidation to every student who wants to learn and we are making good on that promise,” Bloomberg said at a press conference Monday at Far Rockaway High School, which was removed from the list. “The atmosphere has improved dramatically for students and teachers at our impact schools, so much so that five of them will be transitioned out of impact status. We will also take the best practices we've adopted throughout the year and apply them to six new schools.”Far Rockaway HS was added to the state list of Schools Under Registration Review later in the week.Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), who sits on the City Council's Education Committee, was not convinced the mayor's plan was the best one for cutting crime in schools.”School safety is not just a matter of flooding our schools with cops,” he said. “We need to better understand problems existing in each school, and that means having detailed reporting.”In Springfield Gardens, three boys, aged 18 and 19, were arrested in December after allegedly stabbing a younger boy in a gym locker room, sending him to the hospital with multiple stab wounds in his back.The boys were apprehended several hours after the boy was hospitalized, when they were arrested at the scene of a separate, unrelated fight outside of the school. The victim was listed in stable condition after the stabbing.Kima Polite, a 16-year-old junior at Springfield Gardens said school safety agents are laid back and act more like friends to the students than authority figures.”They don't care. They don't really do anything,” she said. “I don't feel unsafe.””Nothing goes on in here,” said Mike Jones, an 18-year-old senior, while standing outside the school at 10 a.m.When asked how he felt about having more guards and safety officers at Springfield Gardens High School, he said, “They're cool.”The principal of Springfield Gardens High School, Elizabeth McCullough, did not return a call for comment. Springfield Gardens High School Principal Robert Hickson was removed in July when the Department of Education ousted the administrators of 10 Queens schools who were in danger of receiving unsatisfactory performance evaluations.The probationary principal of Franklin K. Lane, Frank Barone, resigned as part of the city's administrative overhaul this summer.Schools on the impact list must adhere to stricter disciplinary guidelines than other city schools, according to the mayor's office. In addition to putting more school safety agents and officers in the hallways, the city has imposed a zero-tolerance policy for all infractions at impact schools, meaning students are disciplined instead of given warnings for any type of misbehavior ranging from wearing hats in school to partaking in gang activity, Department of Education Keith Kalb said. The schools put on the impact list last January recorded a 43 percent drop in major crimes compared the same time period last year and a 33 percent decrease in overall crime. Robberies dropped by 68 percent, felony assaults fell 38 percent and weapons offenses were slashed by 75 percent, according to the mayor's office.”These results reflect that throughout our school system our principals, assistant principals, deans and teachers have become increasingly vigilant in enforcing our disciplinary code and making sure that safety and security remain priorities,” School Chancellor Joel Klein said.Kalb said the number of police officers and school safety agents added to John Bowne and Springfield Gardens high schools has not yet been determined.How the program will be phased out of Franklin K. Lane and Far Rockaway high schools has also not yet been determined, Kalb said. Students at Franklin K. Lane said Tuesday that fights are quickly broken up at the school due to the increased security presence.”It's a lot better than last year because you see less fights, more security,” Ivan, a 16-year-old junior, said.”There's fights,” Francisco, a 17-year-old junior said. “But they handle the situation quickly.”Reporters Michael Morton, Matthew Monks and Peter Sutters Jr. contributed to this article.Reach Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesleger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
