A bill that will benefit the Nutley and East Newark school districts by awarding grants to place high-tech security in schools was signed into law by Gov. Philip D. Murphy late last week.
The grants will pay for installing panic alarm systems required under “Allyssa’s Law,” the 2019 mandate requiring all primary and secondary schools in New Jersey to install “panic alarms” that can silently notify law enforcement of life-threatening or emergency situations.
Sen. Paul Sarlo sponsored the bill in the state Senate.
“This is an investment in the safety of school children and educators in schools across the state,” Sarlo said. “The panic alarms provide a level of silent security that we hope is never needed, but is always there. State funds will allow schools to install the system.”
The bond act included $75 million for the School Security Grant Program. More than $65 million in security grants were distributed in May.
Under this grant, Nutley will receive $228,171 and East Newark will get $20,000.
Nutley was the only local district in Essex County to get the grant and East Newark was the only district in all of Hudson to get an award.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.