Author: Sammy Caiola

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.This story was published in collaboration with The New York Times.Zayvion Hamiel, also known as ZayMoney, sits at a DJ booth surrounded by speakers nearly as big as he is. He queues up a remix of Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls),” as a line of teens prepare to walk a makeshift runway.This is Zay’s House. From the street, it looks like a ‌‌nondescript building on a ‌narrow block in North Philadelphia, one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the city’s gun violence crisis.…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.School safety officers on School District of Philadelphia campuses will be issued “personal ballistic protection,” including bulletproof vests and handcuffs, by the beginning of next school year.The Board of Education voted Thursday to approve a $600,000 contract with police supply store Atlantic Tactical. The funding will come out of the school safety operating budget.The decision to outfit safety officers with protective equipment comes out of the most recent agreement between the district and the School Police Association of Philadelphia, the union representing school police.“Our officers…