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Student board members urge clearer hall-monitor rules, say elevator passes failed students with disabilities
Summary
Student speakers told the Albany City School District board that hall monitors at Albany High are unevenly enforcing rules, sometimes seeking students' social-media contacts and, in one set of anonymous statements, touching students in ways that made them uncomfortable. A separate student said elevator-access passes regularly fail, hindering students with mobility needs and potentially violating Section 504 plans.
Student speakers told the Albany City School District Board of Education on Monday night that problems with hall monitors and elevator-access passes at Albany High are affecting students' safety and access to classes.
“Many students feel that hall monitors aren't properly informed of their specific duties and aren't fulfilling their duties,” one student said during the public-comment period, reading anonymous accounts that alleged favoritism, inconsistent phone enforcement and, in some reports, touching during searches that made students uncomfortable. The speaker asked the board to require clearer roles and stricter regulations for hall monitors.
A second student described repeated failures of elevator passes for students with mobility needs. “This is a serious issue...this is a direct violation of their 504 plan,” the student said, and reported that some families had raised the possibility of legal action after passes failed or were demagnetized.
President Shirda Chatur thanked the speakers and reminded them of the district’s chain of command, urging students to raise building-level concerns first with their principal and then up to district staff if necessary. Chatur said the board is not in the buildings but will ask staff to investigate and report back.
The board did not take formal action at the meeting on either complaint; members asked staff to look into the specific problems and to return with findings. The superintendent and building administrators were asked to review training, monitor duties and the process for issuing and maintaining elevator passes to ensure compliance with students' Section 504 plans.
The board accepted the public comments and moved on to agenda items. The district's next steps are to investigate each allegation through the appropriate administrative chain and report back to the board at a future meeting.
