18 AUGUST 19, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
With school reopening approaching, questions
still remain on how classes will look this fall
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
ADOMENECH@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@AODNEWZ
With only a few weeks remaining until
students return to classrooms, many questions
on what health and safety protocols
will look like in New York City public schools remain
unanswered.
Roughly a month before the new school year
starts, New York state offi cials announced they
would not issue health and safety guidelines for
schools reopening next month, placing the responsibility
for craft ing a reopening plan on local school
districts.
New York State Department of Health Commissioner
Dr. Howard Zucker said in a statement last
Thursday the state would not issue guidance due to
the state disaster emergency being lift ed on June 25.
Zucker added in the statement that schools and school
districts “should develop plans to open in-person in
the fall as safely as possible” and follow “guidance
from the CDC and local health departments.”
It remains unclear how frequently testing and
tracing will take place within school communities;
what a school closure policy might look like;
what instruction will look like for unvaccinated
students in quarantine; and what schools will do if
they can not abide by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention’s three-foot social distancing
recommendation.
In a meeting with members earlier this month,
President of the United Federation of Teachers Micheal
Mulgrew said the DOE claims 50 public schools
do not have the space needed for students and staff
to maintain three feet of social distance. Leonie
Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group
Class Size Matters, released a list of 73 Tier 1 schools
that the department claimed earlier this year did not
have enough space to accommodate social distancing
requirements. The DOE has been unable to confi rm
or deny the validity of the list, according toGothamist,
who fi rst reported on the leaked list.
In response, a department spokesperson said the
agency looks forward to all students returning to
buildings this fall and all schools “will safely serve
every student in accordance with current CDC
guidelines.”
Shortly aft erward, New York City’s principal
union, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators,
sent an email to members encouraging
them to submit budget requests for additional staff
needed to help with social distancing. In addition, the
union reminds members the DOE will be “redoubling”
its eff orts to ensure all schools are equipped with
adequate ventilation, personal protective equipment
Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
and cleaning supplies ahead of reopening and that
schools will be allowed to use the cafeteria space for
eating. The email notes the DOE will add ventilation
units in cafeterias where needed.
But it still remains unclear if the DOE will even
enforce social distancing given the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention’s changes to their
COVID health and safety guidelines for schools. In
July, the CDC stressed that schools should prioritize
reopening fully even if they can not maintain three
feet of social distance between students and adults
at all times.
DOE launches vaccination portal for public school teachers and staff
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
ADOMENECH@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@AODNEWZ
New York City public school principals, teachers
and staff can now upload proof of vaccination into
a new Department of Education portal in order to
verify their vaccine status and avoid weekly COVID
testing once classes start on Sept. 13.
The portal’s launch, fi rst reported by Politico,
comes just over a month before public school students
return to classrooms and roughly a month
aft er Mayor Bill de Blasio announced teachers
will need either be vaccinated or undergo weekly
COVID-19 testing once school begins.
“Vaccines are our passport out of this pandemic
and this brand-new tool is a one-stop shop that
streamlines submitting, collecting and verifying
vaccination status for every single DOE school
and employee,” DOE spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon
said. “We encourage everyone getting ready for
Sept. 13 to upload their vaccination proof and do
their part to keep our school communities safe
and healthy.”
Uploads will be accepted on a rolling basis with
teachers able to use vaccination cards, New York
State Excelsior Passes or another government
record. Instructors that are not fully vaccinated
or those who do not show proof of vaccination by
Sept. 13 will need to be tested weekly for the virus.
Once an instructor is fully vaccinated and uploads
a copy of a vaccination card or other accepted form
of vaccine verifi cation, he or she will no longer
need to be tested, according to a DOE spokesperson.
The mayor has pushed vaccination as the key to
safely and fully reopening public schools this fall
and ordered teachers to get vaccinated or submit to
weekly COVID testing as part of a broader eff ort to
boost vaccination rates among government workers.
In July, de Blasio reported that about 60% of the
DOE’s workforce had received at least one dose of
a COVID-19 vaccine.
The portal, DOE offi cials hope, will verify the
vaccination status of 140,000 school staff . Photo via Getty Images
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