NYC public school opening delayed
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
City officials announced on Tuesday
that in-person classes will be
pushed back until Monday, Sept. 21.
The announcement comes the
morning the United Teachers Federation
was threatening to hold a strike
authorization vote if the city did not
delay the reopening of school buildings.
The agreement, reached between
the de Blasio administration, the Department
of Education, along with the
United Federation of Teachers and the
Council of School Supervisors and Administrators,
averted a potential job
action over the safety of public schools
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school year had been scheduled
to start on Sept. 10. Now, teachers
will be given four preparation days on
Sept. 10, 11, 14 and 15. Teachers will
meet their students during a remote
orientation from Sept. 16-18, according
to the Department of Education.
But teachers will be required to be in
school buildings beginning Sept. 8. for
blended learning training.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I am
very proud to say that we did this at
this very moment,” said UFT President
Michael Mulgrew, who joined
Mayor de Blasio during his daily
morning press conference. ” But now
it’s up to all of us to be there to support
each other, to support our kids and to
make sure that we are the ones keeping
the largest and best school system
open, running and safe.”
Earlier this month, the UFT threatened
to strike or go to court if the city
reopened schools without meeting a
list of union demands. The union wanted
mandatory antibody or COVID-19
tests for all students, teachers and staff
planning to enter school buildings to
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | SEPT. 4-SEPT. 10, 2020
for union representatives to allowed
to inspect the status of personal protective
equipment, cleaning supplies
and ventilation systems in schools.
If schools could not be brought up to
snuff by the city’s original first day of
school, Sept. 10, the union demanded
the city delay in-person classes.
The UFT executive board was
scheduled to vote on a strike authorization
on Monday. But de Blasio told
reporters during his daily morning
press conference that he did not think
the job action was on the table. Tuesday
morning, de Blasio told reporters
that city agreed to delay the start of
the school year after both the UFT and
the principals union, the Council of
School Supervisors and Administrators,
expressed concern that teachers
and principals did not have enough
time to adequately prepare schools for
a safe reopening.
For weeks, Mayor de Blasio and
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza
have ignored repeated calls to
delay the start of in-person learning
from parents and teachers claiming
that schools would be equipped with
adequate personal protective equipment
by Sept.10 and that the city had
checked all school ventilation systems.
Tuesday’s sudden shift comes after
union leaders, including Mulgrew,
came out in support of the mayor’s call
to Albany to allow him to borrow $5
billion to cover the city’s $ 6.6 billion
gap in next year’s budget.
“We have a huge obligation to get
the health and safety part right which
is why we have literally set the gold
standard,” de Blasio said. ” We have
said that New York City is taking the
best practices, the strongest methods
from all around the world to and applying
them here in our public schools.”
Read more on QNS.com.
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