BY ISABEL SONG BEER
The Department of Education
launched a COVID-19 command
center to improve communication
between school
districts and principals to help
minimize infections and prevent
school shutdowns, Mayor
Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor
David Banks said Monday
morning.
During an appearance in
the Bronx, Adams said the
command center would be in
operation in order to combat
the Omicron variant and to
keep schools open in accordance
with the “Stay Safe and
Stay Open” policy introduced
by former Mayor Bill de Blasio
last year.
“We want to be very clear,”
said Adams as he spoke at Concourse
Village Elementary
School in the Bronx on Monday.
“The safest place for our
children is in a school building.”
The command center also
works to allow all school staff
to report pandemic-related issues,
including lack of staff or
issues with school testing protocols.
“All indications are that we
are in a pretty good place right
now and we will be prepared
to make whatever adjustments
are needed,” said Banks.
Jan. 3 marked the start of
new in-class regulation including
doubling testing for students
both vaccinated and unvaccinated,
with teachers and
faculty also being eligible and
encouraged to test as well.
Mayor Adams also stressed
that he wants to mandate inschool
testing, but that approval
needs to come from the
federal government in order to
be approved and that he is currently
working wit Governor
Kathy Hochul to negotiate the
change in testing protocol.
Speaking at the American
Sign Language and English
Lower School in Manhattan,
President Michael Mulgrew of
the United Federation of Teachers
(UFT) expressed some
hesitation and concern with
schools reopening after the holidays
with record high numbers
of COVID-19 infections.
“Right now there is no protocol
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for students who do contract
the virus and have parents
or guardians who work
full time, are immunocompromised
or otherwise unable to
tend to their sick children,”
Mulgrew told amNewYork
Metro. “The city needs to come
up with a program for that and
I told the mayor and the chancellor
that these are situations
we need contingencies in place
for.”
However, Adams reiterated
that schools are safer places
for children that homes stating
that “less than one percent
of children are infected,”
whereas “at home, over 15%,”
although it was unclear where
he received those statistics.
Meanwhile, Lydia Howrilka,
a union organizer
with the United Federation
of Teachers Solidarity expressed
concern with the decision
to reopen schools after
the winter break, calling it a
“dangerous and unsustainable
plan” in an email statement.
“We have been telling the
city for almost two years that
Mayor Eric Adams visits Concourse Village Elementary School in the
Bronx with Schools Chancellor David Banks and local elected leaders as
they greet students and parents who are returning from holiday break
on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
school buildings are not safe,”
said Howrilka. “The science
behind this virus is constantly
shifting and changing every
day. At this time, schools are
not safe for students and staff.
We must be fully remote until
we can have better access to
testing or until the post-holiday
surge of COVID subsides.”
COVID-19 command center aims to
prevent school shutdowns: Adams
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