NOAA Public Alert Weather Radios
Distribution of NOAA Alert Radios and Q&A Conference Calls
August 2008
The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) and the Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE) are pleased to announce a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services to distribute over 182,000 NOAA Public Alert Weather Radios at no cost to nonpublic schools and nonpublic school central offices, public school district offices, institutions of higher education, and preschools across the country.
NOAA Public Alert Radios are powerful safety tools with the ability to transmit dozens of types of alerts and a broadcast capability that ensures direct access to information on a wide range of emergencies. The radios constantly monitor the National Weather Service's warnings, watches, and forecasts, as well as sends alerts to hazards in the community from other agencies, such as DHS or the local emergency management agency. Users are informed of natural disasters such as tornadoes, technological disasters such as chemical releases or spills, and other safety issues such as missing and abducted children (Amber Alerts).
One radio will be sent directly to each of the following: nonpublic school principals/headmasters, school district superintendents, presidents/administrators [note corrected addressee] at higher education institutions, and directors of preschools. The distribution will begin in mid-August 2008 and will continue through the end of September 2008. A similar distribution to all 97,000 public K-12 schools was completed in 2005 and 2006.
Included with the radio will be a letter from the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security and a brochure about the radio. Before using the radio, each radio must be registered at the NOAA Radio Web site to confirm receipt. This will assist the government in tracking the success of the distribution process and the actual utility of the radios.
Nonpublic schools who accept placement of NOAA radios are required to complete and submit a license agreement. The license agreement allows nonpublic schools to accept placement of the NOAA radios, while ownership remains vested in the U.S. government. Placement of the radio in a nonpublic school under the license agreement does not make the nonpublic school a recipient of federal financial assistance.
Once the radio has been registered, it will need to be programmed to receive local information. For additional information about how to program and register the radio, please go to http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/. In addition, OSDFS and the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center have developed a newsletter on NOAA radios. The newsletter can be accessed at http://rems.ed.gov/views/documents/NOAA_NewsletterV2I4.pdf.
Individuals that would like assistance with programming their NOAA radio may contact their local Citizens Corps Council, the Department of Homeland Security's community-based program to promote citizen preparation and participation, or their local National Weather Service office for assistance.
Question and Answer conference calls
In addition, OSDFS and ONPE will be convening a series of Question and Answer conference calls over the coming weeks to answer any questions that may arise regarding programming or use of the radios. A NOAA representative and a representative from DHS will also be available on each call to answer technical questions about the function of the radios and to respond to questions regarding working with local emergency management agencies and Citizen Corps Councils. The dates and times for the calls and the dial-in information are as follows:
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 1:00 pm (ET)
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 1:00 pm (ET)
Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 1:00 pm (ET)
Monday, September 29, 2008 at 11:00 am (ET)
To access any of the calls, please dial (888) 390-0980. Once connected, please provide the following pass code: 8723261
For additional questions about the NOAA radio distribution process, please contact Sara Strizzi at (303) 346-0924 or sara.strizzi@ed.gov.