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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-01-06 Health & Safety®BflP~ ~ ~ °°•® ~ J;)Clii Stx~ltt f3~r31 C.cut~t~~o~~ Cott~kcil The Fchruary 1, ?Of16 meeting of the health ar~d P~rl~iie Safot~a Corrtr~tittee was called to order at 4:t)~3 ~.~~. by its Chairperson, Council Niegnioer Itaren L. ~il~tite, in the Cortncil"s Int:onnal Meeting RooY~. Persons in attendance included Council Mernhers Dieter, l~uspa, Rouse, Pttzzello, ~Ihite, ILirsits a~~d Vartrer; Dianne Greaves, ~illiarn Mark Yates of tZiley High School, Bill Bernhardt, Bonnie Stryker, lxecutive l3irector of the Youth Services I3ureaLr; George i~lcCull®rtgl~ of ~~ashington t-ligh School, Police Cl~ie9~ Thomas Fautz, Division Chief I]aryl Boykins, Gary Horvatl-t, Sherri Taylor, Guth ~arre» of Clay Ili~;h School, Mary ,~nne "Dian'' T~llchi€~sky, t~irectcrr of SBCS Athletics; Da~v~~ M. Tanis of YMCA-L~a'bar~ Yo~ttl~ Services, ~~ter~l~ers of the television media., Tarr~ie l,oo of the ,~rat.ttl2 f~ea~c~ :l ~•i~~,s~2~ and. Katl~leeri C~kansl~i-~'arrand, Cu€~ncil ~ttorr~.ey. Corlrrcil Me~~her ~u'hite noted that. the Carnrnittee members ineludc Council Members i~arner, KLtsPa, P~,trzello and herself. C~~uncil t~!Ee~~ber 4~Jhite thanked everyone for ccjming to discuss an itnportar~t cc~rnrnunity issue. She Roped that there would be open discussion on a er•itical issue.; with discussion focusing o~~ hove care can sLtpport cur educational system and our youth. She hoped that all would continue to work together collectively to address responses, options and solutions. She will limit the. n~eetir~b to one flour ire lEght of athletic e:rents scheduled by the South 13e~~d Con~s~~r~t~ity Schools which many of the ream ~:nust attend. She noted that she would follow the Agenda. (copy attached} and hoped that issues could 1Je looked at frot~e~. all. perspectives. :~~~ itltroduction of everyone in attendance then tools pi~tce. Council. Merr~her white noted. that today's ~~eeting was not called to point (rngers l~trt rather to respond as a commu~~i.ty so that all could share, discuss and coll.ectivel}r work together to respond to the incidents which occurred at a recent girls hasketl~all game. She appreciated how quickly the School Corporation responded a.nd hoped that. both short and long term. s©lutions would he discussed. She noted [hat she was encouraged I_~y the number of people who tor~lc tirr~e to lie present today at the Health and Public Safety Cornrnittee meeting of the Council, since tl~e incidents involve public safety. Cc~unei.l. Mernl7er Dieter noted that at least one dews media outlet reported that the Council. v~lotzld be looking a.t an ordinance today can tl•tis topic, that is not the case. I-l.e noted that he had irzf®n~aal discr~ssians v~ritl! Co~~cil Mer~h~r l~-cause last Deoer~l~er, ~~-oting that coverall safety vv~as a concern and that the recent it~cider~t culminated in today's rneetir~g which also in~rolves what. aid can we give as a Council. Co~incil Ivler~ber ~i.rsits noted that cor•a~~n.t~rr.tt~ ~nen~bers approached. hi~~a; and that parking securit~~ concerns Icy officials vvfhcr of~ici.ated a South Bernd Corr~rriunit'y School have been brougl~tt to his attention. far. y~arner reclraested a synopsis of the prc~hlei~a from a rne~~i~er of South Bend C'onlr~rznity Schools so that there would be a better understazDding of how the Council could help. 1'u1~n~a~ ~ L `Orb t3et~lSlx anct 1'iib3ie S€afet~~ Ca33~mifiee sat H:e ?[)O6 S<>~zEl~ I.~ez~~ C'c~~r~iai~ia C'oimcil -)'ale i oi' Ccauncil Nleb+ur .ps~zzailo added that sloe appreciated the wick response of the school corporation in irnpleanenting a €;~~° ticket procedure. Council I~flerr~ber 1~.uspa stated that he believes that eve are "living in an age of violence". ~=te noted that he was glad that the Cor,tncil F~~°as getting involved1 ruith the school corporation since the concerns having, been l~rerving for tl~e last couplc of years. Council president Rouse stressed that today's f:ocrrs woezld be c~~~ gathereng irrfs~rmatior~ from the variaus disciplines involved so that 4~e s;a€~ coll€~ctively wank together. Council Meanber i7Vhite suggested that the school afficials address the sec~pe oaf the problems, what are the overall challenges, and. hos~r can. the t.®uncil and 9:he c~orrsn~unity wank together with the seho€~l corporation on tlxese concerns. ~~illiart~. lVtark Yates, the t?rineipal of Riley Hi.~;h Schaal, Hated that ~rntil tl~e girls l~asl:etball incident there had been. no major probler~ls of this type in the two (2) years that he has been at Riley. lie voiced cor~rcern with regard to Council IVlerriher Kirsits rer~aarks about ~7arking lot security and officials voicing concern. and wished to know at what school that incident occrtrred. l~Jlr. Yates noted that the t~ehaveor ~~thich tao!~; place at tl~e recent girls basketball game was not indicative of what takes place, Dr. Diane C~reaves ~~1~ South Bend. Con~rrrr,rnity Schools noted. that sire has been in South Bend tar sixteen (16j years. She noted that today st~.rdents take to fi€;hting where before it wotirld have bean an argurrrent. Sloe noted that many of those isrvalved do Hat i~-ave aspect for other people. iVlany students str-crggle:, a.nd r~tany of the girls are fighting, In fact they get on lint and have Internet blags against each €~ther. lvlary tonne "hfan" `t'ulchinsky; l~iraetor cif SBCS athletics, noted. that the school. corporation. has a policy in place. Sl~re noted that at the national level there toes the Paceril'iston incident which showed inappropriate behavior. She noted. that urrtortunately incidents kike that spill into the schools. They have been pro-active and have had athletic directors meetings. ID's are reclcrired in order for students to be <tdn-ritted to an athletic event. bats must be rernov~ed when rnen are irr a building. li` a person refuses to abide by their ruli;s, they are asked to leave. 'They have asked all school. adrninistratars to be present at all games, and have asked there to travel to games outside of the city. Slae attended the National Athletic Directors Conventian held last December. Spor-tsrnansllip and inappropriate behavior and ahrr.se were discussed at leng~tl~. She noted that marry schools arc irnpler~renting regulations trat~~ what the South Bend Cornrnr~nity School Carporatian had in place over a year ago. In .lanrrary 2p06 she reef with all principals to revrety the policies. She concluded her remarks by stating that they are working very hard to 17rrve a safe ~rr~rrQr7nlen.t. South C3end 1'alice Chief Thomas Fairtr noted that the, Defy recognizes the issues of youth violence anal that there are in place an Explorers l'rogra'i~`r; that the STZO program h.as been expanded to the intermediate schools as a~rell as the high scl,oo~s.; i'roject Safe l~leighborl~ood, etc. They are developing a "good intelligence" in the interest of tnakin€; students accountable. l~-le rated drat oven, it does not matter if a police officer is present, that in some case fet~a~ales will still get involved in violent. acts. He Hated that. often it is the lack of skells to deal with a. J~c~-~ruun ! . 2OOG 11i a3lh at~d Yuj~lic s~letti' Ctm~nZitte~; cy1 the 2E')06 5out3s f3~=nd f:urraa~c~~7 C:nuncil -)'~~~ ~ i'i ~ " sit€zatio€~ '4vhich ca€€ses paz-t cif the proble~~~. Igo sta.t~c~ that s~.l~ools sl-€ould bo a safe l~av~rz ar~c~ ~o appreciates the strong working relationship with tl~e schoi>l corporat-on. Sherri. Taylar noted that sl€e is an SRS at an interzr€ediate scl7aol. Sloe rlc€ted drat there are "too many kids co€ning to school with a chip on their sl€o€zlcker". Parents are young and da loot te:acl~ discipline at ~4on'l.e. Sk€e sees i.t as a 1~Zatter of negligent. She noted. that too rnarly "kicks arc: being babysat by tv and video gaz~~cs. ~'a® many schools are low being asked tea raise children'". GeorgeMcCr€llough, the prisrcipal of Washington High. Schoal, stated. that riot only is it a car~z~ir€z~it}~ prol~lez~ b€zt it is a ot~ proble~r~. t-~~ stated that tl~e czt}7 is ganng tl~rc~ugl~ a transformation and South Bend is cltal~gir€g. i~1r. McCt€llough stated ±l~zat "tlrcir z~all.zes and €raarals are coming to South 1"3ez7d; the cultazz°e is changing; there are fights at V~ahz~tart arld Walgreen.s; people are killing one: another". [fie stated that people are scrc;ened e~Fhen t:he}~ ca'€~le. to an athletic e~~el~t. They look. at who wants to eor-ne in; and that they have had. problems of scalping tickets. They have zero tolerance for s'la.ch activities. Ile stated that "thugs da not have a right to attend a basketball game, it is a privilege". He stated that you cannot fear people ya€s I~lust deal with thezrl. Council Men~bor ®ieter I€oted that he saw l?rirlcip~l Fates escort out l ~-17 ul~zdesiral~le people. Principal McCul[augh stressed that the czzltl.zre of the inner eit}~ is changing. At g and 1 U ply? you will see 8-year olds wandering tlae streets unsupervised. k-lo stated- "there are gangs in our city and that you are f©alingyourselves if v'ou t~link that t3~ey are not here". There are gang sig€~s, gang signs i€s note books, arld tl~€at "if action is €~€ot talcez~ South Bend. wild e11d €zp like Berztorl harbor". Schools az-e changing and. there are 1 ~ and l ~-~-ear olds in school. This will hurt the business cot~aa~:€€.znity and jok}s ~,~ilk b~ [ost. Chief I'autz stated that this is ltot just happenil~g irl South. Bend and that it is not just a public safety iss€ze. l Ie stated. tl~a.t ``too zrlanv sentences az~d probations are l,ecc~ming a joke'`. 1--1e stated that there are ~~roups trying to establish the€~7selves. 1'rir-cipal. McCullough stated that when h.e asked. students they tell hire. that there is a safer envirar:ment here they in Chicaga or Benton I-3arbor. l~r. Varner noted that too often the "bad environrnerzt" co3~.es urith tl~e~.n whorl they cozr€e here. kt is a 17ig problem. and when thel'e is bad. press it gives a bad ilrlpression to all. 1-1e questioned whether ~~~. can walk away today az~d Have a sense that the South Bend Ca€nan.unity Schools are doing all that they can. on a day-ta-day Basis. It that is the case he will talk positively as we cantin~e to meet, to discuss and b~lild €z}ion plans fclr the rest of the basketball seas€~n. Mary Anne: "Nan" Tulchinsk~.~, I~irectc~r of SBC'S Athletics stated that the pre-sale farz~€at ~.~.~ill contin€ze, that 11~ checks will continuo, and. that people will. be turc~ed away it they do nc~t abide by the re.gulatioa~ls. l~.uth ~"Vaz°ren, >~ril~cipal of Clay High School., thanked the Council for calling this meeting so that lines of cor~nl~,unicatior€ would be open. She noted that City Felt problezr€s res€~itcd in the city canceling that annual e~~°el~t. Runnitzg public events is it~l.p€~rtant. Basketball games are p€€bl.ic 134,:. ~ .;, Fehrcl.~r~` 1.2(.1[16 1Iealtlz al~cl Pulzlie s,1feS~~ C~~x~alt~ilt+;:. o~ the 2iH)6 Socllh Fiel~~l C~nu>~c~n Cou~~cil - t-`- ' ` 1 - ar~d they should serv°e tic ~l~i~Iii~.. ~'~ey a~•e u~~~`~i~~~ ~vit~~ str€de~~t 1eace€-s a.€~d ~voritiir~~ ~.vit~ parent leaders. fir. Csre€€ves noted teat the problems o~two ~~) ~~reeks ago i~a~re l~eightcned ai~rarer~ess. Tl~rey are teaehirrg the Tape 10 l'rowrazrl, since it is not 1Sei€~~ ta€a~ght a# hor-ne. ~icrlence crosses gang lines ar~€d this is intensified when cl~iltlren are rrot respectful. Tl~e city €rrust he prc3active. bonnie Str~;l~er, l;.~ecu#iv€~ l~ire;etor ol'the you#h Services Bureau; appreciated tha# tl~ris council meeting vvas called. Sloe €~oted l:r-orrs her expes-ierrce there is a ;rovtiTirrg prol~lei~~r c~i" old.er teens being o~~ the streets. Sloe a.tso noted that t]~ere are prolale~~~s with l ~ and 19-years oils carrying three ~~) credits. ;e~any teens are livi€}g in crrr-s, with r~nar~y rsf these. ~7outh being out of the house; since they were ~~ years old. litany are dra€g de}~endet~#~ An overwhelr:nirlg nurx~ber of youth ages 16-?~ are looking t~or~ol?s. 1~o€rsing, drugs, cducatirr~~ ar~d er:nploy~ncnt must all. be focused upon by the corn€t~unity. She noted that "we: are not a civil society; that kids lack self corgi#rol; that they yvan# ii~»n.edia.te gra#i~catior~" acrd that places like the ~ol7irrsc~n Center reet~grrize these probler-ns and are addressing #herrs. ~~v~rn . ,la~ris of ~'l~.~l~'A-~lrban '~'o€~th Services noted- that sloe knows of 1?-year°-olds ~vho do nc~t Dave a place to stay. Schools are tuo often 'oecofna~ig th.e stabilizing farce in their lives. Anger a~~ranagen~er€# is needed,. l~ler agency works wi#~- about ~5~ youth weekly, and. sloe l~.as not seen r~~uch par€;t involver~nent, Council l~le€~il~er Kirsi#s commended tlae school corporation officials for their quick action. tie n€~ted that the incident in tyre pa.rkir~g lot which he referred #c~ earlier allegedly occurred at ~i ashingtrarr lei gl~ Scl~oal. 17ivisior~r Police C;hiel' Daryl Boyl~ins noted drat fire longer this 17el~avic~r is tolerated tl-la# 1_~it;ger tl~e prablem will 13~:con~re. Brincipal lVicC.ulloul;h stated that t:he "sch.oois will only be as safe as the city:, council lVCer~ber Write loped that #his level s~f discussion ~~~ould continue. Sire no#ed that as thc; cor~€~nur~ity is changierg tl~€at we need tca focus ors the safety and quality of life of our contrrr~tnity. She again thanked all of the Sorrtl~ B€;€~d Corr€~~runity School officials for their cl€€ick resporrse and hoped tbat discussions of this type ~~rould continue. The Cocrncil Attorney suggested that i€~ ligh# sore of the corn~~ren#s made today, that the Co~nrnittee rrri~;l~t ~v=ar~# to consider broadening the discr€ssion to include r~;prescntatives from tl~e Prosecutors ~flice, as well as tl~e jt~diciar-~~. Zrls. Strycker and Chiei' l3oykins also sugg~:sted thG~t talking with ~rorrtl~ in ss~nall groups vvould €lso prove t~erreficial. Council Mea-nber White tha.nlced everyone for their inpr€t and. stated, that she ~vo~€ld be back ire t€~uch as the Council c.on#ir~ues to ~vorlc togeth~:r with the school corpora#io€~ on help e~7stare the safe#v concerns. ]?el,rutt*t' 3, ?(_1~)fi ~Ie.~1tr~ anct #'iihhi S~fiy C'on~iltee of [h~ 20fy(; tioi,tth 3enr~ C'nnnnu~:~ C.c>z2neil -!'a~,e 404` 4 - ~~ere ~eirl~ ~~ fur-~er h~si~ess t~ ecrlne ~Sefore the ~`~1~71r~i1€ee, Cr)txl~lcil ?~Ierrll~er ~N~lite a~j€~~.l.rried thc; ~`o~~ln~i~ttee ~xleeting ai S:(~1.1~. ~Lespec~f~t~y sl-t~~l~~ittecf ~~ ~ ~~ C~l.lr3~i1 ~e>~~t~er I~~rer~ L.. White, ~`tl~irpers~rl ~Is;~l.th. art.t~. ~e.~~lic ~~i'etg~ ~~-~l~~litiee T~~'F:~a`t~li~ r'~1't~chd-e~ent FehrL~ar~ 1. ~t)f3Ci 13e~1ilx and Public Safety Cimn~niitee .~f tlxe `?f )f}fi South Fiend Cc7mini~n Council -4'age j +;P 7 -