Beloved security guard to be allowed to return to P.S. 229 under conditions

Parents at Bensonhurst’s P.S./I.S. 229 have been assured by NYPD Deputy Inspector John Lewis that their beloved security guard Kevin Rodgers will be allowed to return to the school if he meets certain conditions.

Nonetheless, at a meeting of the K-8 school’s Parent Teacher Association on Wednesday, February 4, they were still trying to understand why the 25-year-veteran of the building had been transferred in the first place.

Rodgers, an employee at the school since 1989 set to retire in a few years, was recently relocated to another Brooklyn school – one Lewis explained had more “direct supervision” – after he “deliberately undermined the rules of the Police Department” by implementing his own protocol, according to Lewis.

“It’s hard to understand that,” responded one parent at the meeting, held in the basement cafeteria of the Benson Avenue school. “If there was something he wasn’t doing right, how could he be working in another school?”

“We felt by moving him to another school we could monitor him more closely,” replied Lewis, admitting that he and his team were unaware of how well-loved Rodgers was by the school and the community. “[Now] he has direct supervision from a supervisor.”

If all goes well, Lewis explained, Rodgers can return home to P.S. 229 by the end of the school year, but under the condition that he clean his act up.

“I would like to get him back sooner rather than later,” the inspector said, explaining that, within 30 to 60 days, the team should have an update on Rodgers’ progress. “He has not been fired. We will get him back if he complies.”

Still, some parents were concerned that it wasn’t so much Rodgers as it was his replacements and those he left behind that need to clean up their acts.

“Not having him here, you have to understand, there is no one in this school – including my son – that feels safe,” said Kim Jalet, stressing to Lewis and his team that two weeks ago, school doors were left unattended by the guard assigned to the Saturday theatre program. “With Mr. Rodgers, I’ve never seen that happen. He may not always ask for ID but, when he leaves a door, he locks a door.”

Another parent agreed.

“On many occasions I’ve come to the front desk when Mr. Rodgers is not manning it and either there’s no one there or, in front of my children, I’m greeted very nastily by the security guards that are there,” said one mother. “So, the one security guard we all love and trust, you took away from us because he wasn’t following protocol, yet I’ve seen plenty of protocol broken – and I’m hardly ever here – and they have not been removed.”

Other parents complained about the lack of communication between the administration and parents as well as the way in which Rodgers was escorted out of the building – a moment one parent stressed happened midway through the school day and “scared” students.

“We move agents all the time and we never get this reaction,” Lewis said, as his team explained replacement protocol (which can happen at any point in the day or week). “We didn’t foresee this coming and we genuinely try to communicate with administration if we’re making a move like this.”

That communication, he said, will only be greater in the coming months.

“We are going to try and get Mr. Rodgers back to you,” he re-iterated.

When asked by a father in the crowd if he, himself, wanted to see Rodgers back, P.S. 229 Principal Robert Zappulla simply said he “would allow him back if he complied,” but veered away from a personal opinion on the matter.