On Wednesday, October 25th 2017, PAC hosted a community townhall meeting to discuss the need for more social workers in School District 9. Currently, District 9 only has about 112 guidance counselors and about 60 social workers employed by the Department of Education, serving a student population of about 35,497. Of those staff members, only 59 of them are full-time. At the meeting, parents demanded that the Department of Education invest in social workers to support our most vulnerable students and create safe schools.
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Our meeting was attended by District 9 principals, parents, social workers and school staff, along with Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Executive Director of the Department of Education Office of Counseling Support Programs Jaye Murray, and many of our allies, including Nelson Mar from Bronx Legal Services.