4 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
City releases vague school health and safety guidebook
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
adomenech@schnepsmedia.com
@AODNewz
New York City offi cials released a
school health and safety guidebook
on Aug. 26, less than three weeks
before public school students are
set to return to classrooms.
Th e 13-page-long document
available on the Department
of Education’s website does not
answer every question teachers
and parents have about this year’s
full return to classrooms a year and
a half into the COVID-19 pandemic
and will serve as more of a
“baseline” for teachers and school
administrators to work from,
according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Questions as to how the DOE
will instruct quarantining students,
for example, remain unanswered,
with Mayor Bill de Blasio assuring
New York City school communities
that offi cials would release
further guidance later this month
and early September as negotiations
with unions like the United
Federation of Teachers wind down.
“Th ere’s a lot of material in
here and there’s a lot of references
to other more detailed material
online,” said de Blasio about the
guidebook, six pages of which contain
fall health and safety protocols.
“We are going to be adding updates
in the coming weeks.”
In keeping with Mayor de Blasio’s
message, the guidebook encourages
all New York City public school
students 12 years of age and older
to get vaccinated and notes that in
order for students to play high-risk
sports like football and basketball
they must get at least the fi rst dose
of the vaccine by the start of competitive
play.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration granted full
approval of the Pfi zer-BioNTech
COVID vaccine for people 16 years
old and older, replacing its previous
emergency use authorization.
Th ere is still an emergency
use authorization in place on the
Pfi zer-BioNTech vaccine for children
between the ages of 12 and 15.
About 60% of New York City’s
children ages 12 to 17 — or
310,183 vaccine-eligible kids —
have received at least one dose of
the COVID vaccine, according to
the New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene.
City offi cials report that about
70% of all public school teachers
have received at least one shot of
a COVID-19 vaccine. Th at number
will increase due to the full
vaccine mandate Mayor de Blasio
has issued to all DOE employees.
Employees have until Sept. 27 to
get at least one dose of a vaccine
and upload proof of vaccination
into the newly launched vaccination
portal.
COVID-19 testing in
schools and quarantining
Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross
Porter announced that 10% of all
unvaccinated adults and children
in schools who have submitted a
testing consent form will undergo
COVID-19 testing every two
weeks. If a positive COVID-19
case is detected in a classroom,
some form of quarantining will
need to take place for students. In
elementary schools, all students
in a classroom with a confi
rmed positive COVID-19
case will need to quarantine
for 10 days. Th e DOE has
not released details on
how those students
will receive
i n s t r u c -
tion with the
guidebook
stating “students
will
continue
to receive
ins t ruction
while
t h e y
q u a r a n -
tine.”
Vaccinated
middle and high
school students who are
exposed to a COVID-19
case in a classroom and are
symptomatic will need to
quarantine for 10 days.
Th e guidebook states
that these students
will receive remote
instruction while
they quarantine,
but city offi cials
have still not
worked out
how those
s t u d e n t s
will be instructed.
“We have a variety of materials
ready, diff erent approaches
depending on the grade level … we
are going to be adding updates in
the coming weeks,” de Blasio said.
Under the guidelines laid out
in the DOE booklet, unvaccinated
middle and high schoolers will also
need to quarantine for 10 days and
will learn remotely. Th ese students
will be given a chance to test into
in-person classes again on the fi ft h
and return to physical classrooms
aft er the seventh day of their quarantine
if they receive a negative
COVID test.
COVID-19-related school closures
will be up to the discretion
of the Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the
guidebook states.
Remote learning for
the medically fragile
Th e DOE accommodates some
medically fragile children in the
third through 12th grades that are
unable to go to school by having
Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter greets a P.S. 064 Robert Simon student when children returned to school in April 26.
certifi ed teachers visit their homes
or by having those students participate
in individual or small group
classes online. Th is fall, the department
has expanded the number
of conditions students must have
in order to qualify for home or
remote instruction. Students with
multiple sclerosis, cerebral ataxia,
lymphoma, liver disease, cystic
fi brosis, congenital lung disease,
congenital heart condition, muscular
dystrophy, adrenal disorder,
heart conditions, metabolic disorders,
chronic renal diseases, active
cancer, Leukemia, Th alassemia,
sickle cell disease, Crohn’s disease
or other gastrological diseases can
qualify, as can those suff ering from
a tumor or seizures or those who
have had a stroke.
Students with family members
that are immunocompromised
due to a medical condition
or treatment can apply for home
instruction, too.
Health screenings
Th is fall, students and public
school staff will be required to
complete a health screen and take
their temperature at home before
they can enter a DOE building,
according to the guidebook. And
any student or staff member feeling
ill will need to stay home and
get tested for the virus.
Face coverings
For months, Mayor de Blasio
and DOE offi cials have said that
masks will be required for all adults
and children inside or outside a
DOE building regardless of vaccination
status. In schools, masks
can be removed during meals or
during designated breaks during
the day in which kids and
adults are kept physically distant.
Students who can not wear a face
Photo by Andrew Kelly/REUTERS
mask will be given an alternative
and staff will be given additional
protective equipment, the guidebook
notes.
Social distancing
Th e Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention recommends that
all students and school staff maintain
at least three feet of physical
distance from one another when
possible but stresses that schools
should not jeopardize full reopening
to abide by this rule. In the
guidebook, the DOE explains
that elementary schools will use
cohorts wherever possible and
have teachers travel between classrooms
in order to help maintain
social distance between students.
During lunch schools are
encouraged to use outdoor space
and extra space within schools
to allow for social distancing,
according to the guidelines.
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