After several years of advocacy from students, staff, parents, and community members, Seattle Public Schools has finally committed to improving alert systems District-wide so that Deaf, hard of hearing (D/HH), and Deafblind students and adults in the classrooms have access to immediate emergency alert information.
The Seattle school district has committed to ensuring that all 106 schools have accessible emergency alerts starting with the two schools where the D/HH programs are housed: TOPS K-8 and Roosevelt High School. Those two schools would have accessible emergency alerts by the start of the 2024-25 school year.
To meet that timeline, the school district is working with emergency alert consultants to identify potential vendors for this project. They have selected four vendors and want guidance from the community about which vendor to choose. The DHH Accessible Emergency System Forum is Tuesday, Feb. 27th at TOPS K-8 Library, 2500 Franklin E. Seattle, 98102 from 4pm to 8pm. Food, snacks and some childcare provided. ASL interpreters provided. For PT or other language interpreters needs contact Laura at [email protected] by Monday, Feb. 12th.
The event will be a livequipment demonstration from two preferred vendors, Alertus and Telecor. Representatives from both companies will explain their equipment and features, and there will be opportunities to ask questions. By the end of this event, the District is seeking feedback from the community about which vendor and product to choose for Seattle schools.
