Earlier this year, New York City quietly shut down a text alert system that warned administrators and parents at independent schools about nearby emergencies — lockdowns, active threats, dangerous situations unfolding close to their children.
The reason? The city needed to free up staff to translate messages into 14 languages for the World Cup.
Independent schools enroll roughly a third of all New York City students. Unlike public schools, they are not covered by the NYPD's School Safety Division, which alerts public school safety officers via radio when incidents occur nearby. Since much of the NYPD's radio system has been encrypted, private schools can no longer even listen to a scanner. Without the alert system, many are left monitoring social media, crowdsourced apps, and personal contacts to learn whether their students are in danger.
This is not a new problem. After September 11, 2001, administrators at private schools had to turn on the news to find out what was happening. The alert system — years in the making — was specifically built to fix that gap. It worked. Now it is gone.
"Waiting more than 20 years to solve a basic child safety issue is absurd," said Sarah Feinberg, a parent advocate and former interim NYC transit chief who helped create the system. "Turning off the tool that actually addressed the issue so you can translate World Cup messages instead is doubling down. Just turn the alerts back on."
The city says the program is "under review." That is not good enough. A third of New York City's students cannot wait while bureaucrats weigh options.
Sign this petition to demand that NYC's Office of Emergency Management immediately restore the independent school alert system and expand it to reach all 1,100-plus charter, parochial, and private schools in the city.

Photo: NBC NY