'NEIGHBORHOODS TERRORIZED'
Task force to examine
Saturday, April 15, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

havoc by students

They fight, kick over garbage cans and drive customers from local stores.

Now, the few hundred students wreaking havoc as they come and go from Dickinson High School in Jersey City will be the subject of a special City Council committee.

"It's a real public safety issue that has to be roped in," said Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski, announcing on Wednesday the formation of a committee.

"The neighborhoods up there are being terrorized," said Lipski, the committee chair. "That's a school that was built for 1,900 (students). Now it has 3,100 (students)."

Make that 3,500 students, according to Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr., who reacted favorably yesterday to the council's action.

"That's a good thing," Epps said about the committee's creation. "We know there is a concern and a problem because of the number of students. When they come out it almost paralyzes the community."

Extra police and security have been assigned to the school.