Grieving Rockland Family Advocates for Schools to Install Silent Alert Systems to Save Lives

By Sarah Morgenstern

The NY state Senate voted Monday to pass a bill that would require schools to install silent panic alert systems that call first responders and local law enforcement to scenes of threatening emergencies: without the knowledge of intruders.

The bill’s advocates, Rockland County’s Jordan and Jayden Turner, whose cousin, 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, was among the 17 students who were murdered in the Feb. 14, 2018, school shooting in Parkland, Fla., were re-traumatized by their loss when the police officers entered the building much too late, while parents begged the them to intervene at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday.

On Sunday, a Border Patrol Team shot and killed Salvadore Ramos, 18, but after roaming the school’s building for 40 minutes, the gunman had already ruthlessly murdered 19 fourth-graders and two teachers in one classroom.

After the tragedy in Parkland, Alyssa’s heartbroken mother, Lori Alhadeff, promptly ran for the local school board, where she began her work to call for all K-12 schools to provide better safety protocols and safety measures.

"I want to do everything possible to make this school system a model that other districts will look and try to replicate," Alhadeff said." I don’t want any other parent to go through the pain and anguish I go through every day."

Named for her daughter, Florida legislators created and passed “Alyssa’s Law,” which can save lives when every second counts. 

New Jersey also passed the law, and the Turners in Rockland County, whose daughter Jadyn was born only months apart from Alyssa with whom she was enjoyed a close friendship, took on advocacy for the bill in New York. 

The bill is heading to the Assembly for a vote, before Gov. Kathy Hochul can sign it into law.

Photo: Flickr