‘Out of control’: Head of Rochester teachers union wants security guards at every school parking lot

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The principal of a Rochester elementary school is warning staff after two concerning incidents this week.

It comes amid a push by the head of the Rochester Teachers Association to beef up security across the district.

News10NBC obtained a letter from the principal of School No. 52 to staff Friday.

It says a custodian was on the roof of the school off Merchants Road Wednesday and saw an SUV with five to seven people pull into the parking lot with masks and guns then leave.

Just before 11:30 a.m. Friday, the same custodian saw a blue vehicle with four masked people quickly pull into the school parking lot – then take off.

The principal says the gates to the school parking lot have been locked.

Rochester Police confirm they received at least one 911 call reporting people in masks hanging out of a vehicle with guns on Wednesday. Officers spotted the car, there was a brief chase, but RPD called it off due to high speeds and reckless driving near schools.

“This is getting out of control and if the district and the City together don’t secure the school district’s schools and school parking lots and grounds, I wouldn’t blame families if they decided not to send their kids to the schools,” Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association, said.

Urbanski says teachers are scared and the union is preparing a resolution demanding security guards at every school parking lot.

“If the teachers aren’t safe, then neither are the students,” he said.

The RTA is surveying faculty representatives at every city school to “verify reported and unreported incidents of car thefts, [carjackings], vandalism, and assaults [that] occurred this school year,” he says.

RCSD tells News10NBC it has added an additional hour to the shifts of its school safety officers in order for them to escort staff to their cars as requested.