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Union Reps Demand City Track COVID-19 Deaths Among DOE Employees As Death Toll Mounts
By
Sophia Chang
Published Apr 7, 2020
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Courtesy Cherry Lou Sy
By
Sophia Chang
Published Apr 7, 2020
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As the coronavirus pandemic ravages New York, some education union representatives are calling for the city to track and release a statistical breakdown of coronavirus cases among teachers, staff, and administrators.
The demand comes as the death toll among educators and staff climbs. At least 25 city Department of Education employees have reportedly died, according to MORE-UFT, a caucus within the larger United Federation of Teachers union. The city does not track DOE-related cases in the same method they track cases among other agencies such as the NYPD and the MTA.
"They're tracking cases in sectors like the NYPD and FDNY and I don't think it makes sense that there wouldn't be the same transparency for DOE employees," said MORE-UFT representative Liat Olenick. "There were some questions and issues around how the DOE responded to reported cases when schools are still open, and you know it's important to have accountability there."
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the DOE have been criticized for slow and inconsistent responses to school communities with clusters of cases.
The New York Post reported that school principals have been directed "to report COVID-19 cases to a central office, and file reports in the DOE’s Online Occurrence Reporting System, or OORS, records show."
Miranda Barbot, spokesperson for the city DOE, said the department was investigating how to manage the flow of information including many self-reported cases.
“We understand there is a lot of uncertainty across the City surrounding COVID-19, and our top priority continues to be supporting school communities that are impacted. School employees are sometimes reporting information to their principals and superintendents, and we are determining how best to collect this information in one place," she said in an email Tuesday.
Some of the most recent deaths included Kimarlee Nguyen, an English teacher at Brooklyn Latin School in Williamsburg. She was found dead in her family's home in Revere, Massachusetts on Saturday of suspected COVID-19, her friends said.
Nguyen was 33 years old. Her friend, Cherry Lou Sy, said Nguyen was on the cusp of literary greatness, winning prestigious fellowships and working with a prominent agent on revising her debut novel.
"She was a very valuable person in the communities that she was involved in, obviously as a teacher and in the literary world," Sy said.
"Ms. Nguyen touched so many in our community, was committed to her colleagues and students, and will be greatly missed," Brooklyn Latin School's acting headmaster Katrina Billy-Wilkinson wrote in a letter posted on the school's website.
One of Nguyen's students, high school senior Subarno Rahman, said she was a "kind and motivational" teacher.
"She constantly tried to keep me engaged whether it be by trying to make me laugh or have me help her with various tasks. She acted not only as a teacher but also as a friend ... She always loved all of her students and constantly wanted to make us the best people we could be," Rahman wrote to Gothamist in an email. "I wish I could go back in time and be the best student I could have been. It's really times like these that make you realize how great a certain individual is and that I took her love for granted. I am dev[a]stated because now I won't receive any more kind comments on my homework; I won't have a teacher to joke around with and share laughs, I won't have a friend that I know will always be there for me regardless of the circumstances."
Nguyen's family is now struggling with the spread of the coronavirus, with her mother and aunt also hospitalized.
Another fatality this past weekend was David Behrbom, a math teacher at PS 55 in the Bronx, who died Sunday.
NY1 reported that Behrbom tested positive for coronavirus a few days after he was diagnosed with leukemia as well.
“He caught the virus some time between when he was diagnosed and through the chemo,” family friend Michael Marconi told NY1. “He just--within four days, maybe three days--he was on a ventilator.”
Behrbom's family tried to connect him with the plasma transfusion programs at local hospitals, according to news reports, but he died before the process could be completed.
With the school year in turmoil, the state Education Department announced on Tuesday several changes to the graduation requirements including exempting the June Regents exam as a condition of high school graduation. Regents exams for students in lower grades have been canceled.
In a release, Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York, hailed the changes as a smart decision:
"This decision is good news for the thousands of students across New York State who are currently navigating unprecedented disruptions to their education. The guidance released today, which allows students in certain situations to demonstrate their readiness to graduate through passing course grades, ensures that students who are on track to earn a diploma will not be penalized for circumstances well beyond their control. Because many students are still struggling to access remote learning, it will be critical—especially once the current crisis has passed—that schools have the resources to provide young people with the additional academic and other support they will need to leave high school prepared for college and careers."
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coronavirus
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and 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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