AFRO: D.C. Organizations Optimistic about Passing of School Safety Act
As the fall DC Council session wrapped up, councilmembers passed several pieces of important legislation. CLC policy attorney Aubrey Edwards-Luce sat down with AFRO to talk about the School Safety Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 and why this bill is so critical.
“We’re really excited about the bill,” said Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Senior Policy Attorney at the Children’s Law Center in D.C. “ We’re happy to have work with Council Member Grosso.”
“This bill has two parts: one addressing sexual abuse by school employees and another part that’s about educating students. Those two parts were combined and we are excited about both of these things.”
“We’re excited because there’s now a mandate for students to have age appropriate education about what the warning signs are and how to respond.”
Many organizations are happy that the bill also addressed an issue at schools called “Passing the Trash.”
”It’s this phenomenon where people who are being investigated are pushed off into another school district before any action happens,” Edwards-Luce explained to the AFRO. “This is an issue that we’ve seen here. We are glad that Grosso took that into consideration and that our bill goes beyond the national best practices.”
Edwards-Luce pointed out that these crimes impact vulnerable communities on a larger scale.
“One of the things I’m excited about as an African American woman who has many clients who are African American, this disproportionately impacts students of color and particularly females of color. And it’s not always just sexual abuse. It’s also instances where students are being physically and emotionally abused and neglected.”