Dive Brief:
- Education officials at Thursday's New York City Council meeting were wary of moving forward on Avonte’s Law, which would require all unguarded doors in elementary schools and schools with special needs programs to be outfitted with audible alarms.
- The law was created after Avonte Oquendo, a teen with autism, slipped out of his school unnoticed and was found dead in the East River months later.
- While supporters of the bill, like Avonte's grandmother, believe alarms on back doors could stop students from leaving school unnoticed, some school officials are skeptical of their overall effectiveness.
- The bill currently has the support of 47 out of 51 of City of Council's members, but the Education Committee must approve it before it moves forward for a full council vote.
Dive Insight:
According to the bill's main sponsor, City Councilman Robert Cornegy, at least eight students have slipped out of their schools unnoticed in the past year. In Cornegy's opinion, this issue would be mitigated by alarms.
Not everyone is so sure. Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm told PIX 11, "No single device can replace the human element. For a large and diverse school system such as ours there is no one-size-fits-all response that will prevent a student leaving a building without permission.”
What the human element is, or how it can be implemented has yet to be brought to the table.
