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"I'm Scared For My Life": Windowless School Kitchens Have Food Preparers Wary Of Returning
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 15, 2020
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Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 15, 2020
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Back in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the city's public school system, Traulane Agrusa's medical condition cleared her from working in the school kitchen at PS 213 in Bayside, Queens. The kitchen's ventilation, Agrusa claims, is not adequate to keep workers safe from the spread of COVID-19.
"I don't have any air exchange at all," said Agrusa, who worries that any aerosols from someone sneezing or coughing will simply linger in the kitchen long enough to be inhaled.
Unlike teachers who shifted completely to remote learning in March, many food service workers working for the city Department of Education stayed at schools, helping to prepare meals for the city's grab-and-go program, even throughout the summer.
Agrusa suffers from asthma, a weakened immune system, and high blood pressure, pre-existing conditions that make her more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. She was granted an exemption from working in the kitchen under Matilda's Law, a state provision that allows New Yorkers with compromised immune systems and underlying illnesses to stay home.
Now, Agrusa says the city Department of Education is ordering food service workers to return to work when school reopens on September 21st, herself included. Agrusa's union, Local 372 DC37, which represents 23,000 school aides, health aides, lunch cooks, lunch helpers, crossing guards, substance abuse prevention specialists, family paraprofessionals, and parent coordinators, supported Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to reopen schools on September 21st so long as the buildings were considered safe. A third of its membership is over the age of 55. Black and Latino members make up 85% of its membership.
Much attention has been paid to the safety of classrooms following de Blasio's announcement that School Ventilation Action Teams will inspect classrooms. And though there are reports by the city showing 96% of school classrooms are deemed safe to re-occupy, there's been no publicly available data breaking down the number of school kitchens that are deemed safe to work. Every kitchen must adhere to certain social distancing standards, with upwards of two employees working in largely tight spaces within a kitchen. In school safety reports outlined by the DOE and UFT, there is no explicit mention of the safety of kitchens, which will continue to be used to cook hot meals.
"They're bullying the workers to come back to the job," said Agrusa. "We're not being included in anything. We're not being treated as human. Really, it's really demoralizing."
The order to return also applies to David Lease, 69, a senior school lunch handler at PS 173, who was also granted an exemption under Matilda's Law for his cardiac condition. He too, has been ordered back. For the last few weeks, Lease and Agrusa have been speaking with their union, DC37, to allow them to remain at home. They've yet to receive an answer.
"Our union's attempting to meet with them to try to get this under what the teachers have been afforded, that they can teach from home," said Lease. "Now, unfortunately, we can't do our work from home, but there was other work within the system we could do, if necessary."
And even if ventilation is working in the kitchen, Dawn Bernardo, another lunch worker at PS 173, questions the screening protocols at his school, which he says has not conducted temperature checks as required. Instead, workers were told to log on to a website to answer four questions asking if they've come into contact with anyone with COVID symptoms or whether they've had any symptoms associated with COVID. Since Last Thursday, Bernardo said no one has checked her temperature.
Inside the kitchen, Bernardo says the ventilation system that allows airflow to circulate isn't working. "It's like over 100 degrees in the kitchen," said Bernardo. "Some of the fans, when they have the ovens on, some of the fans in the kitchen do not work properly."
For Agrusa -- who's also consulted with ventilation experts, including Monona Rossol, who held a virtual training session on airflow last week -- returning to the kitchen isn't an option.
"I'm scared for my life," said Agrusa.
Nathaniel Styer, a spokesperson for the DOE, said kitchens were prioritized in the early days of the pandemic, instituting "safety protocols for following social distancing guidelines, access to PPE, and daily disinfecting."
“Kitchens were part of SCA’s inspections and if a kitchen is not safe, meals will either be delivered from alternative locations or air purifiers will be added," said Styer.
An email to DC37 was not returned.
Tagged
COVID-19
schools
mayor bill de blasio
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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