PETITION TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE IN P.S. 81!!!!

We, the parents of P.S. 81 Robert J. Christen School at 5550 Riverdale Ave, Bronx, NY 10471, P.S. 81 Parents’ Association, and residents of the Bronx, petition the NYC Department of Education and NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio to:

• Install a front door buzzer and front door video camera to keep the front door locked.
• Install push button locks on the inside of all classroom doors.
• Install bullet-proof windows in ALL of the doors of P.S. 81.

We are specifically petitioning the NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, NYC Dept of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza, District 11 Councilman Andrew Cohen, Chairperson of NYC Council’s Committee on Education Mark Treyger, NYS Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

P.S. 81 currently does not offer sufficient safety for its students should a potential shooter attempt to enter and cause harm. The front door is open during all hours of operation and has no video camera. Consequently, a shooter can, without any obstacles whatsoever, easily enter the school and then shoot his or her way past the security guards.

Also, the teachers currently have to take the extra time to use a key to lock and unlock the doors instead of having a push button side lock that can be locked in ½ a second. Having to use a key will take more time for the teachers to lock the children safely in the rooms during a crisis and can be the difference between life and death.

Furthermore, the windows on all of P.S. 81’s doors are NOT bulletproof and, so, having the children and teachers hide in classrooms with locked doors will NOT protect them. The shooter can easily break the window of any door in P.S. 81 with 1 shot or any blunt object and then proceed inside and shoot our trapped classes.

We demand the installment of a front door buzzer, front door video camera, push button side locks on EVERY classroom door, and bullet-proof windows in ALL the doors in P.S. 81 as soon as possible in 2019. This can be done incrementally if necessary.

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Tues, April 23rd, 2019, 7:30pm: This petition will be presented to the Bronx Education Committee & its Chair, Sylvia Alexander, at Education, Libraries & Cultural Affairs, the Board Office, 5676 Riverdale Avenue, Suite 100, Bronx.

The PS 81 Parents’ Association is recognized by the IRS as a not-for-profit corporation under code section 501 (c)(3) & has been classified as a non-profit foundation. All contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law. Tax ID:#54-2193210.