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NYC Schools Updates: Teachers At Hunter College "Brick Prison" High School Fight Reopening
By
Sophia Chang
,
Jen Carlson
and
Jacob Dobkin
Published Sep 23, 2020
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By
Sophia Chang
,
Jen Carlson
and
Jacob Dobkin
Published Sep 23, 2020
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This is our daily update following the reopening of NYC schools for Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020.
Here's the latest:
- With remote learning underway for the country's largest public school system, some NYC teachers are frustrated by what they say is a lack of adequate tech support.
- A national dashboard tracking COVID-19 in schools has been launched by researchers at Brown University.
- We're looking at data around NYC schools as they reopen.
- Do you have a tip or story to share about schools reopening in NYC? Send us an email at [email protected] (we can keep you anonymous)
Teachers At "The Brick Prison" Push Back On Reopening Windowless School
Calling its hulking building on East 94th Street a “fortress” with windowless classrooms, the union representing teachers at Hunter College’s High School and Elementary School filed a restraining order on Tuesday to bar its administrator CUNY from reopening for school.
The renowned school is the only public school in New York City run by CUNY instead of the Department of Education, and has been referred to as "the Brick Prison."
Barbara Bowen, the president of the Professional Staff Congress union which represents Hunter’s 130 teachers, says that means the school isn’t even subject to the city’s DOE standards for ventilation and air flow that applies to the 1,600 other public schools in the city. Bowen described the main school building on East 94th and Park Avenue as built like an armory, with perimeter hallways circling interior classrooms.
“So almost all classrooms, if not all, have no windows at all. So they’re all relying on recirculated air,” she said. With the lack of better ventilation options, the union is demanding that the CUNY administration outfit each classroom with HEPA filtration units as promised, instead of “untested chemical air purifiers.”
The application for the temporary restraining order would stop CUNY from requiring its teachers to return for in-person school until HEPA filters are installed in each classroom. The application also covers the Silberman School of Social Work on 119th and 3rd Avenue, where freshmen and sophomores are to attend class.
Hunter schools are planning to reopen for blended learning on September 29th for grades K-6 and October 1st for grades 7-10. The 11th and 12th grades are staying remote for the first phase of reopening, according to Bowen.
The union is also asking for an independent inspection of the Hunter school building and ventilation system.
A CUNY representative declined to comment on pending litigation.
Tracking COVID Cases In Schools
The Department of Education has released an updated list of schools with COVID cases — there are currently 109 schools on the list, including 19 added on Tuesday. Seven of those schools have been temporarily shut down for inspection, though most have reopened. If a school has two or more cases outside a single classroom, it can be shut down for two weeks. It appears no school has reached that point yet.
As schools reopen, we're using statistics to shape our education coverage. The below map is based on emails the Department of Education has sent out, containing the names of schools which have seen at least one case of COVID, as well as notes on whether the school has reopened.
Numbers to watch: If the percentage of positive tests for New York City hits 3%, using a 7-day average, all schools will close. The rules for handling cases at individual schools are complex, and range from closing a classroom for 14 days and quarantining close-contacts if a single case is discovered, to closing the entire school if two cases are discovered in different classrooms.
A National COVID-19 Data Dashboard Shows Low Levels Of Infection
While thousands of students and teachers have contracted COVID-19 since schools across the nation have reopened over the past month, the Washington Post reports that (outside of college campuses, which have seen outbreaks) "public health experts have found little evidence that the virus is spreading inside buildings, and the rates of infection are far below what is found in the surrounding communities." This could mean reopening schools is not "ask risky as many have feared." However, it's still a bit early to tell, and New York City — the nation's largest school system — has yet to reopen for in-person instruction.
Brown University researchers have now "released their first set of data from a new National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard, created to track coronavirus cases," the Post also reported, noting that so far it shows low levels of infection among students and teachers. "Tracking infections over a two-week period beginning Aug. 31, it found that 0.23 percent of students had a confirmed or suspected case of the coronavirus. Among teachers, it was 0.49 percent. Looking only at confirmed cases, the rates were even lower: 0.078 percent for students and 0.15 percent for teachers."
Tagged
NYC Schools Updates
schools reopening
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Jacob Dobkin
Jake Dobkin co-founded Gothamist with Jen Chung. In 2019, Jake released Ask a Native New Yorker, a book based on his Gothamist advice column.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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