Dear Editor:
As a mother of three children that attend a district public school in Jersey City, I am always aware about the safety of my children as they travel from home to school. Recently, there was a reported incident in the area around PS 14 resulting in a school lockdown during dismissal time. The following day there was a shooting in that same area and a person died. Last week, I visited the PS 14 neighborhood, and a parent expressed concerns about his sons that attend that school; on the day of the shooting one of his sons had to run into a bodega to hide.
No child should be scared to walk home from school. As parents we protect our children from harm, but we also need our community to come together to make sure that our children can get to school safely. We need to work together with local merchants, police, and the members of the community to create safe corridors for our children to travel to and from school. We also need the district to create a digital app that alerts parents or caregivers when our schools go into lockdown. Parents and caregivers want and need to know that their child is safe at all times. This app would ensure some peace of mind. We have to do something as a community to address these issues because our children need us to protect them.
Sincerely,
Gina Verdibello, Education Matters Team Member
Sudhan Thomas 1J Angel Valentin 3J Gina Verdibello 9J Candidates for the Board of Education