Division of Student Safety and Prevention Services

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Division of Student Safety and Prevention
Services

• COPING WITH CRISIS
• THE NEW YORK CITY
• BOARD OF EDUCATIONS
• RESPONSE TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER

Presented By Gregory A. Thomas Executive Director
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Geographic Logistics
Satellite Image Map Manhattan, New York
Ground Zero Schools P.S. 150 Stuyvesant
H.S. P.S.- I.S. 89 P.S 234 Leadership Public
Service H.S. Economics and Finance H.S. World
Trade Centers Ground Zero Border
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Synopsis of events

• 848 a.m. American Airline Flight 11 is crashed
  into upper floors of the North Tower Columbia
  Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
  records its first seismic blip, a reading of
  0.9 on the Richter scale.
• 906 a.m. United Airline Flight 175 crashed into
  South Tower,unleashing enormous fireball. Tower
  sways, but remains standing. Because the plane
  hit at an angle, it may have damaged exterior
  columns over more floors and spread fire over
  wider area attack on North Tower.
  Lamont-Doherty records reading of 0.7 on Richter
  scale.
• 950 a.m. Vertical columns supporting the top
  floors of the South Tower fall. Floors above
  crash site topple toward the impact zone, and
  then collapse downward. A lower impact could
  have tipped the tower sideways.
• 1029 a.m. North Tower collapses.
• Lamont-Doherty records reading of 2.3 on
  Richter Scale.
• Source Newsday, Monday,September 24th 2001

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Statistics
Student Enrollment
Stuyvesant High School 3,041 P.S.
234 613 P.S. 150 175 P.S.
89 239 I.S. 89 255 High School
of Leadership Public Service 586 High School
of Economics Finance 720
Total 5,629
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September 11th 2001
This was the third day of the school year, when
disaster struck It required that many teachers
were forced to deal with frightened children whom
them hardly knew. P.S. 234 This school was
evacuated just after the second tower collapsed.
The school was enveloped in debris filled
clouds. The New York Teacher/City Edition
printed an excerpt from the NYT from
09/18/01 One small child saw the burning bodies
falling from the tower and cried out, "Look,
teacher, the birds are on fire." The occupants
of this school walked 40 minutes North to the
safety of a school located in Greenwich
Village. High School for Leadership public
service and the High School of Economics and
Finance Both schools are located on Trinity
Place and both were so close to the towers that
they sustained damage from fiery
debris. Stuyvesant At about 1030 a.m., police
officials ordered the evacuation of the school
through the North entrance, away from the WTC
complex.
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Board of Education's Response and immediate
actions taken in the aftermath of WTC disaster

• September 11, 2001
• The school day was extended for all schools
• All after-school programs were cancelled
• September 12, 2001
• All NYC schools were closed
• September 13, 2001
• Eight schools temporarily re-assigned to other
  school sites
• School Assignment Changes
• Eight schools in the city had to be relocated
  due to their proximity to the WTC site
• School Assignment Changes
• 1) Stuyvesant- temporarily re-assigned to
  Brooklyn Technical High School
• High School for Leadership Public Service-
  temporarily re-assigned to
• Fashion Industries High School
• 3) High School of Economics and Finance-
  temporarily re-assigned to Norman Thomas H.S.
• 4) P.S. 89- temporarily re-assigned to P.S. 3 in
  Manhattan
• 5) I.S. 89 temporarily re-assigned to I.S. 70

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Effects of School Re-assignments
Nearly 9,000 students affected and reported to
other school sites, sharing space with
occupants. P.S. 234, The Independence
School Classes were doubled and tripled in size
at P.S. 41 Not enough classroom space P.S. 234
was moved to St. Bernard's which is located on W.
13th Street P.S. 89, P.S. 150 Both schools were
taught in the library, music and art rooms at
P.S. 3 Students ate lunch at desks, as there was
not enough room in cafeterias P.S. 89- this
school is to be moved to J.H.S. 22, which is
located on Houston and Avenue D sometime during
the week of October 14th. The parents of
students who attend this school are questioning
the safety of the neighborhood as well as saying
it is too far. Stuyvesant High School was
re-assigned to utilize Brooklyn Tech bldg. in
split shifts Brooklyn Tech students school day
modified, 715 a.m.-147 p.m. Stuyvesant High
School's schedule, 1100 a.m.-611 p.m. During
the three hours of overlap, Stuyvesant will
utilize auditorium to conduct as many as 40
simultaneous classes. Classes were cut 30
minutes The above was the original schedule,
but Stuyvesant parents complained that it would
be dangerous and educationally unsound to have
nearly 8,000 students in the building at
once. On Wednesday 9/19, the Chancellor ordered
the two schools to operate on completely
separate shifts- Brooklyn Tech students to
leave the building before the Stuyvesant
students' arrival at 130 p.m. Classes for
Stuyvesant students would be shortened to 29
minutes from 40 minutes Tech students' classes
will be shortened from 40 minutes to 37 minutes
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View from High School of Economics Finance
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Re-opening of Affected Schools
Stuyvesant High School Had been used as a
command center for rescue efforts following the
9/11 terrorist attack on WTC 1 million cleanup
was completed Asbestos had been found in dust
samples taken inside the school, concern that
school is contaminated with cancer-causing
substance Air samples, tested free of airborne
asbestos (most dangerous form) Further air
samples to be conducted by the Board and also
done with federal and city inspectors and
independent tests to determine safety of air
quality. On October 10, 2001, school re-opened.
The first of the Ground Zero schools to
re-open. High School for Leadership public
service High School of Economics
Finance Both schools will not be opened for at
least another four weeks (week of November
5th) Board said the schools were being
thoroughly cleaned and inspected by the city
Department of Environmental Protection, the
federal Environmental Protection Agency
and inspectors hired by the board.
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Short-term and Long-term concerns

• Long-term concerns
• Review of schools' emergency plans
• Creation of task force to examine present system
  and offer recommendations to
• enhance the further security of all students and
  staff
• 2. Revision of school safety plans
• At present, these plans do not address problems
  that might occur district wide, but just
• in each individual school
• Plan is being revised to make provisions for
  citywide emergencies and subsequent measures
• to be taken accordingly
• Short-term concerns
• 1. All public address systems to be functioning
  in every school
• Emergency telephone lines that link each
  individual school to their respective district
• offices
• 3. Availability of additional cell phones for
  school emergencies

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Thank you for coming

• Gregory A. Thomas
• Executive Director
• Division of Student Safety and Prevention
  Services
• Address 110 Livingston Brooklyn NY 11201 Room
  651
• Telephone [phone]
• E-Mail Gthomas_at_nycboe.net
• Fax 718 935 - 4472