File #: Res 2193-2009    Version: * Name: DOE to revise the existing emergency notification policy to require school officials to contact all parents and guardians when a school-wide emergency occurs.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Education
On agenda: 9/30/2009
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the New York City Department of Education to revise the existing emergency notification policy to require school officials to contact all parents and guardians when a school-wide emergency occurs and to develop a protocol for school administrators to follow that will ensure that parents and guardians are timely notified in such situations.
Sponsors: Helen D. Foster, Tony Avella, Charles Barron, Simcha Felder, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, John C. Liu, Rosie Mendez, James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, Kendall Stewart, Darlene Mealy, Jessica S. Lappin, Alan J. Gerson
Council Member Sponsors: 15

Res. No. 2193

 

Resolution calling upon the New York City Department of Education to revise the existing emergency notification policy to require school officials to contact all parents and guardians when a school-wide emergency occurs and to develop a protocol for school administrators to follow that will ensure that parents and guardians are timely notified in such situations.

 

By Council Members Foster, Avella, Barron, Felder, Jackson, James, Koppell, Liu, Mendez, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Stewart, Mealy, Lappin and Gerson

 

                     Whereas, The Chancellor’s Regulations (“Regulations”) A-412, set forth the reporting and notification requirements that school officials must follow when a school-related incident or crime occurs; and

                     Whereas, The Regulations provide that public schools should provide a safe and secure environment for students, staff and parents; and

                     Whereas, The Regulations also provide that the maintenance of safety and good order is the collective responsibility of all school staff, the New York City Police Department, the Department of Education’s (DOE) Division of Student Safety, parents and students; and

                     Whereas, Upon learning that an incident has occurred that creates an immediate safety emergency, the school safety agent or DOE must immediately notify the police and the principal or the principal’s designee; and

                     Whereas, In addition to notifying the police, the principal or principal’s designee must also notify the appropriate superintendent, as well as the parents or guardians; and

                     Whereas, According to The New York Times, in April of 2009, a teacher, claiming that he had planted a bomb in the library, barricaded himself inside a classroom at the New Millennium Business Academy middle school; and

                     Whereas, After this bomb threat incident, many parents complained that they had not been notified by DOE; and

                     Whereas, The Regulations do not specifically outline a protocol for parental notification in the event of a bomb threat; and

                     Whereas, The Regulations also do not provide a specific procedure for how and when all parents must be notified in the event of any school-related emergency; and

                     Whereas, Chancellor’s circular number 7, dated January 1999, regarding procedures for reporting safety incidents to the DOE’s Emergency Information Center, also does not include procedures for parent notification; and

                     Whereas, Parents and guardians have a right to be notified immediately when school-related incidents occur that may affect the health and safety of their children; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Department of Education to revise the existing emergency notification policy to require school officials to contact all parents and guardians when a school-wide emergency occurs and to develop a protocol for school administrators to follow that will ensure that parents and guardians are timely notified in such situations.

 

 

 

LS# 7440

AES

7/21/09

10:00am