Contrary to what Principal Stanley Teitel had previously claimed, the Department of Education (DOE) regulations do not mention whether students can leave school premises during free periods.
Teitel acknowledged that he mistakenly believed that a Chancellor’s policy forbade students from going outside during frees. “We can’t find any regulation that specifically talks of the issue of the free period,” he said. “I actually thought there was a regulation.”
The Spectator first reported on the absence of such a directive on June 5, 2007 in the article “Nice Guys Finish Last”: “Just this month [Teitel] quoted a nonexistent Chancellor’s regulation that required students to remain in the building during their free periods. In actuality, the Chancellor has said that it is up to Teitel himself to dictate such policy.”
Despite the absence of such a policy, Teitel said he will not allow students to leave during free periods, citing security reasons. “It’s my job to keep you safe,” he said.
Teitel said he is concerned for the students’ well-being once they leave the building.
“It’s true that if something does happen, he is held accountable,” Student Union President Jamila Ma said.
Senior Aditya Doddapaneni said he would like to leave the school during free periods. “They can keep track of us since they’re using the scanners anyway,” he said.
According to Teitel, the Comprehensive Attendance, Administration and Security System (CAASS) ID scanners cannot be programmed to allow students to leave during free periods.
“I assure you this is not a limitation of the CAASS system,” said Erick S. Johnson, Vice President of Business Development of Access411, Inc., the manufacturer of the scanners.
“CAASS works by reading the student’s schedule for that day,” Johnson said in an e-mail interview. “If a student has a ‘Free Period’ scheduled, then they would be allowed to leave the building during a free period, then they would be able to go wherever a free period is permitted to go. So for example, if students were allowed to leave the building during a free period, then they would scan their badge and it would verify that student could leave against the student’s schedule.”
While scanners at Stuyvesant can be programmed for free periods, the DOE provides the scanning system with limited scheduling information. The scanners only recognize three periods: start, lunch and gym.
According to DOE spokesperson Dina Paul Parks, the DOE approves companies for dealing with individual schools. In approving those companies, there may be “parameters and regulations that [companies] must comply with.” She said that there was a possibility that the DOE contract with the CAASS company may not have included free periods.
Parks said that beyond these contractual agreements, the school administration can decide how the scanners are used.
Teitel recently instated a new scanner-related policy that automatically revokes students’ option to go out for lunch if they come back from lunch late more than once.
Earlier last month, at the grade assemblies, Teitel said he would not use the scanners punitively for late students.
“If I said it, I don’t recall it,” Teitel said.
Students with free periods during the day said they would prefer to be able to leave the building. “It’s a free period and you are not really doing anything,” said freshman Brian Lukito. “You should go out.”
“You see how the library’s really loud,” said freshman Anca Dogaoiu. “If people got to go outside, the library would be a place to study and the park would be the place to hang out.”
At a meeting with the SU on Friday, September 28, Teitel said he was not going to change the policy, even without any regulations from above.
“That will never happen,” Teitel said, according to Ma.
