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Thursday, December 26, 2019

In Light of the Jersey City Attack NYC Reopens Nonpublic School Security Guard Reimbursement Program for Private Schools to Allow More Schools and Yeshivas to Enroll

Excerpt from Yiddish article in Der Yid’s December 27, 2019 edition


Grant program was reopened after multiple schools requested that UJO assist them in obtaining increased security.


UJO thanks Mayor de Blasio for reopening the program. 

Brooklyn, NY – Last Thursday, New York City reopened the opportunity for private schools to enroll in the Nonpublic School Security Reimbursement Program that covers the cost of hiring guards for private schools. This was done after UJO received requests from multiple schools. UJO relayed these requests to City Hall. The Mayor then ordered the DCAS agency to reopen the program. Although schools usually need to apply before the advent of the school year, they are now allowed to apply for funding midyear in order to be approved for the program and receive State funding to hire school security guards midyear. The program was initiated after a campaign by Councilman David Greenfield and the City Council, which resulted in the establishment of this program two years ago.

“I express our sincere appreciation to Mayor de Blasio,” says Rabbi David Niederman, UJO Executive Director and President, “for taking the necessary steps to better protect our schools and for Lisette Camilo, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services for re-opening the application procedure so expediently. It took only a few days from the time we presented the request to City Hall through our devoted servant Mr. Lincoln Restler at the press conference held in Williamsburg with the Mayor on Thursday, December 12,  for the program to be reopened.

“It is rare that you see government move so fast. This shows how seriously the Mayor takes the security of our community and how strongly he identifies against anti-Semitism and hate. We call on yeshivas who didn’t yet apply for this funding to apply at this time. We know that ultimately, ‘The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps’ (Psalms 121:4) and that is where our true protection is, but we are obligated to make our best efforts to protect our children, and this program makes great strides in that regard.”

In further news, Councilman Chaim Deutsch announced that he is presently working to expand the program to include schools that have less than 300 students so that they should also be entitled to apply for funding through this program.