A year after the city was required to have lifesaving defibrillators in schools, more than 1,500 of the devices are collecting dust in a warehouse, waiting for officials to finish training staff to use them.
Currently, only high schools have the devices.
The Education Department hasn’t begun training staff at middle and elementary schools.
But officials hope to do it by the end of the school year.
“I think it’s a crime they have them sitting in a warehouse,” said Rachel Moyer, whose son died of heart failure while participating in school sports in 2000.
The devices are so simple that advocates say a child can use them.
If used improperly, they can’t do any harm.
A state law, passed two years ago, requires all public schools to have the devices.
But the state regulations are tough, requiring seven hours of training to operate the simple device, along with a sheaf of paperwork, said Kathleen Grimm, deputy schools chancellor.
As a result, the city can’t recognize teachers who already have defibrillator training, which is now part of CPR courses.
But the holdup isn’t all about logistics.
The city and teachers have been bickering about how much to pay school staff for attending the half-day training sessions.