BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — A group of Buffalo Public School parents is voicing concerns about after-school behavior warnings from the Buffalo Public School District superintendent.
The district is warning students to head right home after school, or they could risk losing their NFTA bus pass. It's in response to a series of fights that have happened. However, parents say they want to work with the district to get to the root of behavioral issues.
READ MORE: 'Help establish expectations': A message from BPS superintendent to parents on student behavior
Buffalo school parents talking about issues with student violence and fights in respond to @Buffalo_Schools. 'Help establish expectations': A message from BPS superintendent to parents on student behavior https://t.co/A58H8vcBeV pic.twitter.com/VIOmlTbYgi
— Eileen Buckley (@eileenwkbw) November 6, 2023
“Our parents are concerned. They're not happy getting Robo calls as their communication. They want to see what else can be done,” remarked Danielle Grzymala, co-chair, Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization
Buffalo School parents, who are also members of three parent organizations, the Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization, the District Parent Coordinating Council, and the Community Health Parent Association, gathered early Monday afternoon to voice their concerns.
They are calling on the district to collaborate with them to get to the root cause of behavioral issues with students and are responding to a message from Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams last week regarding an incident that happened recently at Fountain Plaza in downtown Buffalo with too many students gathered after school.
“Recently there were many students gathered after school at Fountain Plaza. This was very unsafe. The youth were unsupervised and there were physical altercations. You should know that student transit passes may be revoked,” stated Dr. Williams.
“These sort of ongoing threats of ‘I’m taking bus passes away’ ‘when we live in a community that is primarily low income and the students are obviously relying on those bus passes. Parents may not have a car to get them to school. We want to make sure that our students are healthy, safe, and supportive,” noted Jessica Bauer Walker, president, Community Health Parent Association.
Members of the parent groups say "systemic issues" are leading to unsafe student behaviors. They point to the fact that five high schools release students around the same time in downtown Buffalo.
“Why can't the kids get on a bus and leave downtown right away? Is there a transportation problem? Is it a problem with the schools not making the kids get on the bus? We need to sit down and have a real conversation about it,” responded Ed Speidel, president, District Parent Coordinating Council.
“There's five high schools that are downtown. And so, there's just going to be a certain volume of students that are downtown. We're giving our children messages, like don't go to the library, don't go to parks, don't go to get a coffee after school. It just seems unrealistic. But we would like to come up with realistic solutions,” Bauer Walker said.
Parents say they have solutions but need the district's cooperation.
"More activities is a great start. I think just coming together and having a conversation and bringing all the stakeholders together. That's the first step, so that's what we would want to do,” Grzymala replied.
The city school district issued the following statement in response to my request for comment:
“Superintendent Williams remains committed to keeping all students and staff as safe as possible, and her message to parents and the community speaks for itself. She is also respectful of all feedback, including from parent stakeholder groups.”
Jeffrey Hammond
Director of Public Relations and Information
District spokesman Jeffrey Hammond also noted the superintendent's message "was not based on a particular incident; there have been multiple times that some BPS students, charter school students, and others congregating at places such as Fountain Plaza, the train stations, the Central Library, and other locations. As she said in her remarks, there have been some physical altercations."
“We are not saying that there's not some problematic behaviors that are happening, but there are solutions in terms of us creating healthier and safer spaces and what's happening is our students are getting arrested and getting in a lot of trouble that can impact their lives in serious ways,” Bauer Walker described.
