New York Charter Schools Write Their Own Rules for When to Call 911 on Students Having a Mental Health Crisis

Written By Madelyn S

ProPublica, May 23, 2022: New York Charter Schools Write Their Own Rules for When to Call 911 on Students Having a Mental Health Crisis

“…Ian has been diagnosed with ADHD. When he gets frustrated, he sometimes has explosive tantrums, throwing things, running out of class and hitting and kicking anyone who comes near him. Blanco contends that, since Ian started first grade last year, Success Academy officials have been trying to push him out of the school because of his disability — an accusation similar to those made by other Success Academy parents in news stories, multiple lawsuits that resulted in settlements and a federal complaint.

“When giving him detentions and suspensions didn’t stop Ian’s tantrums, Blanco said, the school started calling the police. If Blanco can’t get to Ian fast enough to intervene, a precinct officer or school safety agent from the New York Police Department will hold him until an ambulance arrives to take him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation — incidents the NYPD calls ‘child in crisis’ interventions.

“Citywide, staff at the Success Academy Charter School network — which operates 49 schools, most of them serving kids under 10 years old — called on police to respond to students in emotional distress at least 87 times between July 2016 and December 2022, according to an analysis of NYPD data by THE CITY and ProPublica.

“If Success Academy were run by the city Department of Education, it would be subject to rules that explicitly limit the circumstances under which schools may call 911 on students in distress: Under a 2015 regulation, city-run schools may never send kids to hospitals as a punishment for misbehavior, and they may only involve police as a last resort, after taking mandatory steps to de-escalate a crisis first. (As THE CITY and ProPublica reported this month, the rules don’t always get followed, and city schools call 911 to respond to children in crisis thousands of times a year.)”

Madelyn S
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