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NYC Public Schools Partially Reopen With Optimism And More Testing
By
Jessica Gould
,
David Cruz
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Dec 7, 2020
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nyc.gov
By
Jessica Gould
,
David Cruz
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Dec 7, 2020
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Tens of thousands of 3-K through fifth grade students returned to classrooms at New York City public schools on Monday following a systemwide shift to full-remote learning two and a half weeks ago. District 75 schools for certain special education students will reopen for in-person instruction by Thursday, bringing a total of 190,000 students back into school buildings by the end of the week as the city makes a second attempt at reopening during the pandemic.
The reopening of public schools comes even as rates for COVID-19 have steadily risen across the city. But with rates registering drastically lower in public schools than in the communities which surround them, confidence in the public school system has been bolstered, in part due to the safety protocols in place, including rigorous testing.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza welcomed young students back to school at P.S./M.S. 5 Port Morris in the South Bronx on Monday, offering elbow bumps as they filed into the school building on Jackson Avenue.
De Blasio—who attributes his focus on reopening schools is in line to his emphasis on equity — said he’s starting with younger kids since research has shown they don’t appear to be driving infections as much as adults, and because there isn’t yet sufficient testing resources to allow for middle and high school students to return. Students from 6th through 12th grade are expected to come back next month.
“What a beautiful scene this morning of kids coming back to school filled with energy, filled with hope, ready to learn again,” de Blasio said at a news conference after visiting P.S. 5. “We’ve got a lot more work to do to keep reopening our schools and always keep them healthy and safe but this is part of how we bring back New York City.”
De Blasio recalled speaking to a boy named Ethan, a fourth grader, who couldn’t wait to head back to school.
“I asked him how he felt and he said the simplest idea, he said, ‘I like school,’” de Blasio recalled. “And I talked to a fourth grader named Martha, and I said, ‘Are you happy to be back in school?’ And she said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Why?’ And she said, ‘I learn more. I learn more when I'm back in school.’”
In Queens, Claudia Garcia, a mother of two, dropped off her 4-year-old son at P.S. 28 before heading to another school to drop off her 8-year-old daughter.
“They’re good, a little anxious ‘cause it’s the first time after remote learning, fully remote,” said “But they’re excited.”
It was mostly quiet at P.S. 143 nearby, where students were starting in person later in the week. This confused Kailass Ssresda, a father of a nine-year-old, who came to the school thinking it would start today. “We should have come on Wednesday, but we came today. As far as I knew, I thought it started Monday,” said Ssresda.
Yessenia Pinera, a mother walking past the school, said her 7-year-old looks forward to returning to in-person learning tomorrow.
“He got sad, and his grades got worse,” Pinea said of her son when he switched to all remote. “He’s happy, all the kids are happy, they get to go back.”
De Blasio shut down the school system on November 18th when the seven-day-average for positive COVID-19 tests reached 3% citywide, the long-standing trigger to close schools. While an estimated 315,000 public school students have opted to learn in the classroom, roughly 700,000 students have chosen to learn fully remote.
While the mayor attributed his decision to close schools when the infection rate reached 3% to a a promise he made to families and staff%, he also said he wanted to reopen as quickly as possible. On November 29th, de Blasio announced his plan to reopen schools with more aggressive testing of students. Under the second reopening, random testing of 20% percent of school communities will increase from monthly to weekly through the randomized testing program.
All students—except 3K, Pre-K and kids with medical exemptions—need permission to be tested and can’t come through the doors if they don’t have those consent forms signed. Under city policy, individual classrooms and schools will close if multiple, unrelated cases start popping up within school buildings. The state threshold for shuttering an entire school system in any region is 9%.
Governor Andrew Cuomo advocated reopening public schools, and the United Federation Teachers union came around to supporting it too, given the additional testing.
At a news conference in Harlem, UFT president Michael Mulgrew said testing will remain a critical component to keeping schools open.
“The 20% mandated testing of every school on a weekly basis means that we now have by far the most aggressive mandated testing program anywhere in the country,” he said.
Mulgrew was joined by doctors with SOMOS Healthcare, one of the independent clinics involved in the city’s randomized testing program. The network has tested thousands of kids in largely minority communities across 400 public schools in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx since the test program began in October.
“We’re gonna keep our eyes open. Testing, testing, testing,” Dr. Ramon Tallaj, chair of SOMOS, said. “It’s the most important piece now.”
Dr. Denise Nunez, a clinician with SOMOS, said she was confident parents would consent to let their children get tested because of the relationships SOMOS developed with the community even before the pandemic.
"The families trust us,” Nunez said. “The families come to us for education, questions they have. And we partnered with the teachers to not only test outside, but come to the schools and make sure [...] all our students are safe.”
Officials said 850 school buildings reopened today. Of those schools, about 150 will be able to bring students in five days a week, with plans for more to do so over time.
“We're pushing every school to go in that direction. And of these schools, the vast majority can get to five day a week, either for all their kids or for a lot of their kids,” de Blasio said, adding that schools will look to give priority to students with special needs, in temporary housing and public housing.
But not all educators are eager to get back into classrooms. Annie Tan, a special education teacher and vocal activist against reopening, said the increasing COVID-19 rates across the city are more cause for concern.
“Now, co-workers I’ve talked to are really worried about going back in person, especially with cases going up,” said Tan, who is working remotely after getting a medical accommodation from her school in Sunset Park several weeks ago.
On Sunday, about 100 parents, students and staff rallied outside City Hall calling on the mayor to speed up plans to reopen upper grades.
Josue Perez, who teaches at Belmont Preparatory High School in the Bronx, said his students are struggling. “There’s no substitute for in person,” he said. “As a math teacher I can tell you these kids are not learning the basic skills they need, and the gaps that exist already between minority and low income [students] are going to get even worse compared to the rest of the population.”
Adriana Aviles, a mother of three public school students and the president of a Queens Community Education Council, said one of her sons, a third grader, couldn’t wait to go back to the classroom.
“He wants to see his teachers; he loves his teachers,” Aviles said, adding that her eighth grade daughter has been somewhat depressed since schools went completely remote. “She said, ‘Mom, I really want to go back to school.’”
Tagged
COVID-19
mayor bill de blasio
schools reopening
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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