BACK TO SCHOOL
School tsar to conduct ‘unannounced’
safety inspections ahead of reopening
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
As principals and teachers
grapple with unclear school reopening
guidance, their buildings
will now be subject to
surprise safety inspections to
ensure that “everything is in
place” for the start of classes
on Sept. 10, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced on Aug. 17.
The unannounced spot
checks will begin this month
and be conducted by offi cials
from the Department of Education,
including the top offi -
cial, Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza. Department
reps will continue to monitor
schools throughout the remainder
of the school year, the
mayor added.
The check-ins are meant
to provide a sense of ease to
worried parents sending their
children back to school during
the ongoing novel coronavirus
pandemic. But some principals
say that unless the DOE gives
clearer guidance to teachers
and school administrators
on health and safety requirements
Caribbean Life, A 16 ug. 28-Sept. 3, 2020
and equip schools with
adequate cleaning resources
before next month, check-ins
could be more of a hindrance
than a help.
“If I don’t even know what
am I supposed to do what is it
that I’m being held accountable
for?” said Principal of
Fort Greene Prep Academy
Paula Lettiere. Last week, Lettiere
along with dozens of other
Brooklyn principals released
their own version of a school
reopening plan which calls for
a phased-in approach.
The plan also calls on the
DOE to equip schools with replacement
staff for nurses,
teachers or guidance counselors
working remotely, release
detailed reports on when and
what kinds of personal protective
equipment and cleaning
supplies schools will receive,
detailed information on every
school’s ventilation system, a
plan for using outdoor space for
classes and suffi cient planning
times for building leaders.
“We are opening these
buildings for children so either
they are ready or they are
not.”
During de Blasio’s Monday
press conference, the mayor
announced that the city would
distribute suffi cient cleaning
supplies and personal protective
equipment to schools before
the school year begins
on Sept. 10. According to Carranza,
shipments of 4 million
face masks, 3.5 million bottles
of hand sanitizer and 80,000
canisters of disinfectant wipes
have already begun and will
be replenished throughout the
school year.
In a brief video that de
Blasio played, the city indicated
that over 7,350 maintenance
staff will disinfect
school buildings after classes
end each day and clean “hightouch”
zones multiple times a
day, 3,750 electrostatic sprayers
will also work to disinfect
buildings and 210,000 signs
and fl oor markers will be
placed in schools to remind
students to keep socially distant
from one another.
“The message of that video
is that whatever our schools
need they are going to have,”
said de Blasio. “This is about
being ready, it’s about moving
past fear to resiliency.”
The city is also creating
a new hotline schedule to be
up and running this week for
principals to use to request additional
personal protective
equipment or cleaning supplies.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza speaks at a news conference at the
Offi ce of Emergency Management about the Coronavirus, March 2, 2020.
Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY