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School return hinges on vaccine by Max Parrott
one dose of the Covid vaccine by Sept. 27. At least 63 percent of DOE employees In just over two weeks, New York City’s were vaccinated as of Monday, according to public school system is planning a full in-per- Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter. The rate for all children under 18 is 18 person reopening for its nearly 1.1 million students for the first time since it went remote cent in New York City, given that the vaccine is still unavailable for children under 12. As before the pandemic. Mayor de Blasio, who has touted the school of last week, around 300,000 12- to-17-yearsystem’s low transmission rate during its olds have gotten at least one dose, around half hybrid reopening last year and called the New York City’s population in that age range. The city has been rolling Department of Education’s out pop-up vaccination Covid response the “gold sites at public schools parstandard of health and ticipating in Summer Rissafet y measu res,” has ing, the city’s summer maintained that the school program, in an reopening will go accordattempt to boost those rates ing to plan. In spite of the in the remaining time mayor’s insistence, the Questions remain before school. Delta variant’s surge in As an added incentive, cases has become cause for on reopening last week the DOE added a concern for some parents requirement that public and educators as schools school athletes will need a near the first day. vaccine to play several The school system will high-risk school sports — a continue with many of the Covid safety protocols in place that kept the policy that will affect roughly 20,000 students rate of infection down like ventilation, clean- and staff participating in athletics including football and volleyball in the fall and more in ing and mandatory mask wearing. While the city has been rolling out school- the winter and spring. related announcements, there remain several Social distancing large policy details that the administration Though a majority of schools will have no will have to address in the following weeks regarding the testing of students and staff and trouble abiding by the CDC’s guidance to how those who test positive will have to maintain at least 3 feet of guidance, reports from electeds and union officials indicate quarantine. that some will st r uggle to meet that standard. Vaccinations While the CDC guidelines for opening When announcing that schools would fully return in May, de Blasio said that the city’s K-12 schools make a 3-foot-distancing sugvaccination efforts played a central role in the gestion, they stop short of making it a decision. Since then he has continued to insist requirement, emphasizing that a safe return to that a high vaccination rate among staff and in-person learning takes priority over all individual cases. eligible students is critical for the return. As in last year’s reopening principals will Though de Blasio said as recently as Monday that making vaccination mandatory for have to work with each school’s unique spaall students is not on the table, he did make it tial constraints to create a plan that works for a requirement for all DOE staff, ranging from them. The DOE said it has continued to work teachers and principals to custodians and with principals to develop workarounds like food service workers, to have received at least making cafeteria and meal service flexible in Associate Editor
The school reopening has triggered all school administrators to create individualized plans to FILE PHOTO maintain social distancing in their buildings.
The Department of Education has rolled out vaccination sites aimed at students over the summer but inoculations remain unavailable for those under 12. order to make the space available at various triggers a class- or schoolwide quarantine and points during the day or utilizing outdoor how students participate when they’re at home. space. United Federation of Teachers PresiDe Blasio has responded by saying that dent Michael Mulgrew has said that the DOE closures are going to be much less widespread has reported it was able to meet the 3-foot than in the previous year because of the rate guidance for all but 50 schools citywide, but of vaccination, but has yet to make many added that he was skeptical of that figure. details clear. What we do know is that fully In Queens, which has the largest share of vaccinated students and staff will not have to overcrowded schools in the city, the challenge quarantine unless they test positive for the of finding creative virus or begin to solutions is especialexhibit symptoms if ly difficult. Comsomeone in their munity Education classroom tests posiCouncil 26 Presitive for Covid when dent Adriana Aviles schools reopen in said she doesn’t the fall. k now how Fresh Rego Park parent Meadows’ Francis a nd head of t he Lewis High School, Queens Parents one of the city’s United group Jean most overcrowded Hahn found the proschools, is going to tocol rega rd i ng orga n ize its f ull school closu res return. overly conservative Forest Hills parlast year. She said COUNCILMAN MARK TREYGER ent and Community that she is worried Board 6 Education Committee Chairwoman that a randomized, mandatory testing regiHeather Beers-Dimitriadis said that she’s men like the DOE imposed last year could been hearing that cafeteria constraints are lead to widespread closures that would disforcing schools to get creative. She told the rupt learning. Chronicle that one of her daughters who is As parents anxiously await the city’s going to Frank Sinatra School of the Arts guidance on Covid outbreaks, remote learnHigh School, has the flexibility of eating on ing has stayed a hot topic. Though de Blasio the roof of the relatively new building. Her has consistently ruled out a remote option, other daughter, who is going to a smaller some parent groups demanded that he school in Manhattan, has been given the change course on the issue. City Council option to go buy her lunch off school premis- E d u c a t io n C h a i r m a n M a r k Tr eyge r es and bring it back inside. (D-Brooklyn) wrote a letter urging Porter to consider a remote learning option for stuQuarantine concerns dents who are immunocompromised or too Some of the biggest remaining questions of young to be vaccinated. “If kids have to quarantine for 10 days, what the reopening will look like revolve around protocols over testing and quarantin- then what will meaningful instruction look ing. Last school year, classroom and building like and who is responsible?” wrote Treyger closures became highly contentious, when two in the Aug. 19 letter, which was signed by 28 unrelated positive cases could result in closed councilmembers. Some educators, on the other hand, have questioned how a remote schools. Q The city has yet to determine both what option could work on a practical level.
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If kids have to quarantine for 10 days, then what will meaningful instruction look like and who is responsible?
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