Mayor touts safest city school year on record

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that this past school year was the safest on record.
The mayor made a special visit to M.S. 88 in Brooklyn's Park Slope section to take part in the school's Restorative Justice Circle, a program that encourages kids to talk about their problems, emotions and other issues while holding a Kermit the Frog puppet. It keeps them in school learning, rather than being suspended or expelled.
De Blasio says the program is one example of the kind of fair discipline program that has contributed to making New York City schools safer.
"The 2016-2017 school year was the safest on record," he says. "Everyone should be proud of that."
De Blasio says there has also been a decrease in school-related arrests and summonses given to students. He credits disciplinary programs like Restorative Justice and a stronger relationship between NYPD and the Department of Education for making schools safer.