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New York City Schools Installing 21,000 Door Alarms

New York City is installing 21,000 audible door alarms at public schools to prevent another tragedy like the disappearance and death of a student with autism in 2013, education officials said on Thursday.

The alarms will be in place by the end of the year, Elizabeth Rose, the deputy schools chancellor, said.

School employees will also receive training on managing students during transitional periods, when they can slip out unnoticed.

“Schools will all have security and be safe for our students,” Ms. Rose said.

Avonte Oquendo, 14, who had autism, walked away from his Queens school and was found dead in a river months later.

In response to Avonte’s death and several episodes involving students disappearing from schools, members of the City Council last year passed a bill known as Avonte’s Law. It requires the Education Department to survey all schools in the public school system to evaluate the need for additional safety equipment, including audible alarms.

Ms. Rose said all the schools were surveyed and 97 percent of them requested the door alarms. The others either already had the alarms or lease space in buildings with security systems.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 23 of the New York edition with the headline: Schools Installing 21,000 Door Alarms . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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