FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 • KIDS & EDUCATION • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Bayside’s Cardozo High School pleads with
DOE to approve hiring of additional teachers
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, one
of the largest public schools in Queens,
is pleading with the Department of
Education (DOE) to approve the hiring
of 13 teachers to instruct 65 classes for the
upcoming school year.
Teachers of the Bayside high school,
located at 57-00 223rd St., held a rally outside
of the school on Th ursday, Sept. 17,
to call on the DOE to address their staff -
ing needs before the start of the school
year, which began on Sept. 21 aft er it
was delayed from Sept. 10. Th ey were
joined by state Senator John Liu and
Councilman Barry Grodenchik.
Th e rally was arranged before Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced the start date for
in-person schooling will again be delayed.
Th e city will roll out a phased-in
approach for students who opted to return
to hybrid in-person classes.
Only students in pre-K, 3-K and District
75 schools (which serves the city’s disabled
students), returned to buildings on
Sept. 21. Students in K-5 and K-8 grade
schools will now return to buildings on
Tuesday, Sept. 29. Middle school, high
school, secondary, transfer and adult education
students will go back to their physical
classrooms on Oct. 1.
Th at gives the DOE two more weeks
to address Cardozo and several other
schools in New York City’s staffi ng needs.
Principals and education advocates
have warned the city that the current plan
for a hybrid in-person and remote learning
format will lead to staffi ng shortages.
Cardozo school’s UFT representative
Dino Sferrazza told QNS that while it’s
great they have more time to plan for a
return to school, the city had six months
to plan.
“Our teachers are dying to get back into
the classroom, but we don’t want them
coming back until it’s safe,” said Sferrazza.
“Until they fi gure out proper air fi ltration,
distancing and staffi ng, we won’t be safe.”
Sferrazza said Cardozo was approved
for an alternative model that actually
helps them coordinate their classes with
less teachers, with a blend of in-person,
remote and live instruction.
“Had we chosen their hybrid model,
then we’d be short around 70 teachers,”
Sferrazza said.
He said the school appealed their
budget to allow them to hire additional
teachers at the end of June, but have
not received an answer from the DOE.
Th e school appealed for additional
staff because of the number of employees
working remotely due to reasonable
accommodations and students opting in
to blended learning.
Cardozo currently has 3,591 students
enrolled and just under 200 teachers.
Teacher staffi ng is only one of their
worries, though. Teachers are also concerned
about students without tech at
home, the Wi-Fi capability at the school
and having to share a room with fellow
teachers during live instructions due to
classroom ventilation.
Liu called for a delay in school reopening
in-person classes altogether amid
confusion of remote learning.
“Widespread confusion about scheduling,
soft ware and other online tools,
staffi ng assignments and parental assistance
has created chaotic situations that
will take time to resolve,” Liu wrote in
a letter to de Blasio. “Clear illustration
of this is the Department of Education’s
sudden announcement yesterday that
students opting for blended in-person
and remote-learning instruction
will not actually receive all of their
remote learning in real-time, contrary
to previous assur- ances
by the DOE to parents
who might otherwise
have opted for remoteonly
instruction.”
Th e latest DOE data
shows more than 40 percent
of public schools
families have opted for
fully remote learning.
On Th ursday, the city
promised to hire 2,600
additional District 75,
early childhood, K-5 and
K-8 educators, in addition to the 2,000
redeployed staff previously announced.
“Our staff have shown tremendous
patience and leadership, and today’s
a n n o u n c e -
ment means
we’re going to
work with schools to add even
more resources and support,”
DOE Spokesperson Nathaniel
Styer told QNS. “With a citywide
infection rate hovering at 1
percent, we’re the safest major city
in the country and we owe it to our
students to reopen.”
Councilman Grodenchick told QNS
that while the city is undergoing a budget
crisis, the divisive plans for returning
to school is on de Blasio and Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza. He said like
parents, elected offi cials haven’t received
information about school reopening.
“I don’t think they were ready. I understand
it’s unprecedented times, but it’s
been six months now since the pandemic
began,” said Grodenchick. “Excuse the
pun, but it’s obvious we haven’t
done our homework.”
Grodenchik said he’s heard
from principals and parents
in his district as well as other
neighboring districts who are
experiencing Cardozo’s staffi ng
shortage.
“People have been talking
about this for weeks, if not
months. Cardozo is perhaps
the most extreme, but it’s a common
issue in other schools …
there are many schools with
double digits number of
need,” he said.
When asked if City
Council can step in to
allocate funds from
the city budget for
more teachers, Grodenchik
said they’re doing their best
to ameliorate the situation.
“I really believe our children
and parents deserve better,” he
said. “Education is the most
important thing our government
provides. It’s the bedrock
of our democracy, and
right now we’re failing.”
kids & education
Photos by William Artuso
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