COVID cases force school closure
Department of Education shuts down The Academy for Career and Living Skills
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
P.S. 811x The Academy for
Career and Living Skills, a
district 75 school in the Bronx,
is the fi rst public school to
close after two staffers tested
positive for COVID-19 in seven
days, the Department of Education
announced on Sept. 11.
The department also confi
rmed that seventeen more
Department of Education employees
have tested positive
for COVID-19 since school
buildings reopened for teachers
on Tuesday, offi cials
said last Friday.
So far, about 15,000 staffers
have taken advantage of expedited
testing, according to the
DOE. The turnaround time
for test results is 48 hours for
97% of tests.
After mounting pressure
to delay the start of in-person
classes, Mayor Bill de Blasio
pushed back the start of the
school year until Sept. 21. But
teachers returned to buildings
on Sept. 8, to prepare for their
students’ return.
Reports of instructors testing
positive for the virus a
day after buildings reopened
caused panic among some
teachers and parents frazzled
by the constant worry of outbreaks
linked to schools. The
Justice caucus of the city’s
United Federation of Teachers,
also known as MORE
UFT, alleged on Wednesday
that three teachers had self-reported
testing positive to their
higher-ups and colleagues.
Miranda Barbot, a spokesperson
for the Department
of Education, confi rmed
two Brooklyn employees—
a staffer at P.S.001 in Sunset
Park and another at M.S. 88 in
Park Slope—had indeed tested
positive for the virus.
More reports began to circulate
online a day later and
the President of the UFT Michael
Mulgrew told reporters
16 of its members self-reported
testing positive for the virus
on Thursday.
After a day of radio silence,
the DOE confi rmed at least 17
other staffers in 17 different
buildings have tested positive
for the virus.
BRONX TIMES R 6 REPORTER, SEPT. 18-24, 2020 BTR
Teachers and staffers returning
to schools before
the start of classes are not
required to get tested for
COVID-19. Instead, the city
strongly encourages staffers
to do so. Beginning on Oct. 1,
schools will need to test 10%
to 20% of their populations.
Mayor de Blasio pledged to
close down schools in the coronavirus
cases exceed 3% on
7-day average.
“All individuals with a confi
rmed case are isolating, and
the Department of Health, in
partnership with the Test &
Trace Corps, is conducting
investigations into all confi
rmed cases to establish who
are close contacts and asking
them to quarantine,” according
to a statement from
the department.
“As we get ready for inperson
learning, we’ll stop at
nothing to ensure principals,
teachers and school staff have
the protections they need to
stay safe and prepare for the
school year,” said Barbot in
an email on Friday. “While we
continue to navigate the realities
P.S. 811x, The Academy for Career and Living Skills
Photo via Google Maps
of a pandemic, there will
be positive cases—we are putting
people’s health above everything
else by quickly identifying
and isolating positive
cases, which is a leading effort
to prevent transmission.”
The city’s Test & Trace
Corp. can confi rm a case
through routine contact tracing
and inform DOE or staffers
can self-report a case to their
schools. Principals can then
send infected staffers to the
City’s Situation Room, a rapid
response team comprised of
members from the Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene
and Test & Trace Corps.
More details on this effort
will be released next week,
according to the DOE.
During these uncertain
times, questions about
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BUS INES S , B RONX S T Y LE
How EmblemHealth is Supporting the Health of The Bronx
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