Parents beat up Brooklyn school safety agent who wouldn’t let them into elementary school over COVID vax status

Three parents enraged they couldn’t get into a Brooklyn elementary school without proof of COVID vaccination beat up a school safety agent Thursday, sending her to the hospital, according to union officials.

The parents, two fathers and a mother, were carrying cake and pizza when they showed up at PS 158 in East New York at about 2 p.m., said Gregory Floyd, the head of Teamsters Local 237, which represents the city’s school safety agents.

The parents had children in common, and one of those kids was celebrating a birthday, he said.

They were greeted by a lone school safety agent at the entrance, who asked to see proof of vaccination — but the parents barreled past her, telling her they had already called ahead and spoken to someone about it, he said.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” the mother demanded of the agent as she tried to stop them. That’s when the two fathers held the 30-year-old school safety agent down while the mother beat her, yanking her hair and ripping off one of her fingernails, Floyd alleged.

“We’re talking about three individuals who are supposed to be responsible adults, parents, assaulting a school safety agent in uniform,” Floyd said.

The trio fled, but one of the fathers was arrested after coming back to pick up his child, Floyd said.

The mother returned as well — to make a 911 call alleging the school safety agent arrested her — and she was arrested as well, he said.

An NYPD spokeswoman said the parents were told ahead of time they could drop off the birthday treats, but wouldn’t be allowed inside because of COVID restrictions.

Kijana Harbin, 26, the father of the student celebrating a birthday, faces felony assault, disorderly conduct and harassment charges, police said. The mother, Tazaine Brooks, 26, is charged with felony assault.

The school has 429 students, no cameras, and a single NYPD school safety agent assigned, Floyd said.

“This shows once again that there’s a need for at least two school safety agents. They shouldn’t work alone,” he said. “They’re unarmed. And now we have deranged parents we have to worry about.”

The 10-year veteran school safety agent was taken to Brookdale Hospital with bruises and sprains, union officials said. Her nail was removed from her right thumb, and she’ll need x-rays to determine if anything was fractured.

“We do not tolerate acts of violence at our schools or against any member of our school community, especially our incredible school safety agents who keep our young people safe,” said Department of Education spokeswoman Jenna Lyle. “No students were present during this incident and we are working closely with the NYPD on their investigation.”

As of March 4, the city public school visitor policy shows “visitors are still required to show proof of vaccination and complete the daily health screening before entering a DOE building.”

Department of Education staff must be vaccinated. No requirement is in place for students, unless they participate in sports or other “high-risk” extracurricular activities.

Schools Chancellor David Banks said during a parent town hall in Brooklyn’s District 22 that the restrictions were made “with the best of intentions, which was to keep the school safe. If we start opening it up to parents and everybody else coming into our building, you just increase the possibility of spread. That’s what the rationale has been.”

He added that he hopes to announce the lifting of some school COVID restrictions soon. “I’m very hopeful that very soon we’re going to start to see some announcements,” he said.