Jamaica High School in New York is considered one of the most dangerous schools in the nation. There is a list for that in New York apparently. Well, this school was on it. In order to get the school off of the list, the school has to become less violent. No brainer.
So how do you do that? Well, obviously you issue a decree that no one can call 911 for any reason. For any reason.
Mariya (Fatima) began to vomit at school on April 27 and collapsed in the hall, but her family says help did not arrive until 90 minutes later.
“If they called 911 early, it is possible she can be in better shape,” said Mariya’s mom, Liaquat Begum, a recent immigrant from India. “She was a very good student. Now she is not reading properly.”
“They did nothing,” Mariya said after limping into her lawyer’s office to meet with reporters yesterday.
Since her stroke, Mariya has had trouble walking. She has no use of her right hand, and her family says the 10th-grader is reading at a fifth-grade level.
Why would you institute such a policy? Because 911 leaves a paper trail of violence and the school is trying to change its image.
The person that wrote the memo banning the use of 911, Former Jamaica Assistant Principal Guy Venezia, refused to comment on the situation. Did I mention he’s teaching at another school?
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said he was going to investigate the incident and said that the policy was against Department of Education policies. I would hope so. Klein also said Jamaica’s policy was an isolated incident.
Really? Believe it or not, this is not the first time a school has prohibited school officials from calling 911:
The News reported in January that the family of 11-year-old Shawn Martinez is suing over the boy’s death in 2003 after an asthma attack at Brooklyn’s Public School 20. The family claims the school prohibited nurses from calling 911.
Following that report, Klein sent a note to city principals stressing that all staff should call 911 in an emergency.Venezia’s memo went out three months later.
Your tax dollars at work.
