Photo Courtesy of Google
PS 207 in Rockwood Park.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Two area elected officials extolled the Adams administration’s effort to keep all public school entrances locked during the day as the mayor and Schools chancellor celebrated the fruits of said labor after the City Panel for Educational Policy recently voted in favor of the security measure.
The PEP approved a $43 million contract with Symbrant Technologies, Inc. at its monthly meeting Wednesday evening “to install automatic door-locking systems in Department of Education buildings to quickly lockdown schools from outside threats in an effort to make NYC public school children safer.”
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) and State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) both gave the result their own thumbs up.
Photo Courtesy of Google
MS 210 in Ozone Park.
“I’m proud to have been a leader in the fight to enhance safety at NYC schools. This is a long overdue step, and I’m glad that we will finally be seeing the doors at our schools locked and monitored by school safety agents in the future,” Ariola said on Thursday.
“I have long advocated for locking the entrances to our public schools, and I applaud the City’s Panel for Educational Policy for taking this step to protect our students and every other individual working in our schools,” Addabbo added on Friday. “I visit classrooms across my district and many times the doors to a public school will be open and you can be well into the school building before you encounter a school safety guard. Our private schools, Catholic schools and yeshivas all have locked doors where you need to be buzzed in, and I just want the same common sense security measures for our public schools. Over the years, I have introduced a bill that would require public and nonpublic schools be locked at all times during the school day, which now sits in the Education Committee. I am hopeful that we will get this initiative passed and better protect our children.”
