“Students in Buffalo Public Schools are not out of control,” superintendent addresses McKinley HS fight

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Superintendent of Buffalo Public Schools Dr. Tonja Williams and community leaders are trying to tamp down concerns over schools safety after police swarmed McKinley High School Wednesday.

Williams began her news conference with a direct message, “The students at Buffalo Public Schools are not out of control.”

Her message comes in the wake of a large fight during dismissal outside McKinley High School, the stabbing of a 17-year-old girl at Buffalo School of Culinary Arts in September, a student getting a BB gun into PS 156 Frederick Law Olmsted in May and the stabbing of a 14-year-old student and shooting of one security guard outside McKinley High School in February.

A 16-year-old male student was taken into police custody after Tuesday’s fights.

Student in custody after fights outside of McKinley High School on Elmwood Avenue

Dr. Williams, who was named BPS superintendent in July, said that district students aren’t out of control, but instead “impacted by a global pandemic, as most of all of us have and as students have across our state and our country.”

She said some students made “poor decisions” by failing to get on their NFTA busses and headed to the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Amherst Street to fight. The Peacemakers and Buffalo Police were on the scene trying to de-escalate the situation, she added.

So, how is the district protecting its staff and students?

Dr. Williams pointed to support staff in BPS buildings students can turn to for support, development of a strategic safety plan and going to 100% metal-detector wanding of students. She added that the district is looking into hiring a chief of security and touted the purchase of state-of-the-art security systems.

McKinley High School students will now be staggered during dismissal. Grades 9 and 10 will exit through one door and grades 11 and 12 will exit through a different door.

Will new technology stop violence in Buffalo Schools? Experts explain

Dr. Williams and BPS Board of Education President Louis Petrucci also spoke about how the district’s code of conduct was written to ensure student safety.

“The code of conduct isn’t just about what happens on school grounds. It’s about what happens from door-to-door, from the time children leave home in the morning to come to school, that means when they’re on the buses when they’re walking to school, to the time they get home safely,” Dr. Williams said.

“That’s one of the things the Board is always highly, highly concerned with, is ensuring the safety of our education, because, we’re concerned about academic achievement when kids don’t feel they’re in a safe environment,” Petrucci added. “Whether it’s the physical infrastructure or the policies and procedures that they need to get through to get into the building or to get home safely.”

“We need to start dealing with the root cause of this issue and really come together as families,” said Jessica Bauer Walker, president of of the Community Health Worker Parent Association and BPS parent. “It’s really important for us to talk to students and talk to youth. So, parents, ask your kids what’s going on. It’s hard for them to navigate some of these issues and how to maintain face credibility when issues arise because they’re complicated issues.”