Students Walk Out to Protest Scanners

DeWitt Clinton High School fired up its new metal detectors and scanning equipment for the first time this week, resulting in long lines and a growing sense of resentment among students. Clinton’s staff generally support, or feel resigned, to the changes, but hundreds of students staged a walk out last Monday in protest.

“I don’t like it at all,” said Emmanuel Moya, 17. “There’s going to be more fights inside, and it makes us late.”

Clinton underwent major renovations this summer to set up the scanning center, which requires students to enter through one entrance on Paul Avenue. Girls and boys wait in separate lines before swiping an ID card, passing through a metal detector, and putting their bags through an x-ray machine. Those who set off the detectors are questioned in a separate room behind a two-way mirror.

Once students enter the Bedford Park school, they can’t leave until the end of the school day. Clinton rehabbed its cafeteria to accommodate a “captive lunch,” putting an end to students’ ability to eat outside. Three classrooms and a learning center were knocked down to roughly triple the capacity of the basement cafeteria. The room will accommodate 800 students — instead of 300 as in past years — during five lunch periods.

Surveillance cameras were also installed in Clinton’s hallways with funds from the Bronx borough president’s office.

Staff spoke favorably about the increased security during a tour of the changes last month. “I think it’s proven to be effective,” said Maryanne Mola, an assistant principal, about the cameras.

The Bedford Park school is following the path of other large Bronx high schools, which introduced scanning students and a captive lunch years ago. Violence has been less of a problem at Clinton than other big schools, but a murder of a Clinton student earlier this year by other teens at a Bronx subway platform was an impetus for the shift, according to Geraldine Ambrosio, Clinton’s principal.

“We are very concerned with student safety,” Ambrosio said earlier this week. “The metal detectors were put in the school to make sure that the students are safe.”

Clinton’s student body has also swelled recently. Enrollment was estimated at 4,725 this fall, up from 4,300 last year.

Staff said they expected kinks in the transition. “You figure it’s going to be a bumpy road at first,” said Alex Castillo, a Clinton assistant principal who oversees security. “We hope to have things running smoothly by Thanksgiving.”

But many students aren’t as patient. “The line was all the way down to Bronx Science,” said Kira Williams, as she was joined by successive waves of her peers who walked out of the building. Security officers kept the protest contained, but did not demand that students return to class. Protesters marched to the Region 1 office at 1 Fordham Plaza, later in the day. Several students met with administrators, and the rest went back to Clinton for a discussion about the situation.

Ambrosio said the situation had improved by Tuesday, with additional detectors allowing lines to move quicker.

Students argued during the protest that they shouldn’t be punished for the crime last spring.“Things were safe inside before this,” said Susan Diaz, 15. “We are being blamed for incidences before school.”

Most students are upset about the captive lunch. “The food is terrible,” said Veronica Lopez, 16. “And now we have to pay for it.”

Cell phones are another big issue, as students say they are now forbidden to bring them to school. “We need our phones,” said Anthony Stafford, 17, of Decatur Avenue. “Many of us have jobs after school.”

Hundreds of students have signed a petition against the changes, which they plan to submit to Region 1 administrators. Stafford said they also plan to send letters to Clinton alumni and elected officials.

Council Member Oliver Koppell, who represents Bedford Park, said he supports scanning. “There’s too much danger, too many weapons found in schools these days,” he said. “It only takes one.”