Avonte’s Law increases school safety, lawmakers say
Avonte’s Law, which mandates the placement of audible alarms in public schools to warn education officials if a student tries to leave the building, is working well, according to Councilmember Robert Cornegy, who sponsored the legislation that created the law.
Cornegy (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant) came to P.S. 176 in Dyker Heights on Nov. 20, where he joined a colleague, Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst), at a press conference to discuss the progress the city is making in implementing the program.
The law, which was signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014, is aimed at preventing the tragic case of Avonte Oquendo from happening again. Avonte, a 14-year-old autistic boy, left his Queens school in 2013 without being detected, setting off a citywide search. His remains were found three months later.
In January of 2014, a second incident took place in which a 4-year-old boy, Symier Talley-Jasper, wandered away from P.S. 59, his school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and walked home without being detected. While that adventure had a happy ending, the incident still troubled officials, including Cornegy, in whose council district the boy lives.