16 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
City releases vague school health and safety
guidebook ahead of fall’s school reopening
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.
The 13-page-long document available
on the Department of Education’s
websitedoes 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.
“There’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.
There 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 vaccineeligible
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. That number will increase
due to the full vaccine mandate Mayor
de Blasio has issued to all DOE employees.
Employees have until Sept. 27 to
BACK TO SCHOOL
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 confirmed
positive COVID-19 case will need to
quarantine for 10 days. The DOE has
not released details on how those
students will receive instruction with
the guidebook stating “students will
continue to receive instruction while
they quarantine.”
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. The guidebook states that
these students will receive remote
instruction while they quarantine, but
city offi cials have still not worked out
how those students 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. These 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
The DOE accommodates some
medically fragile children in the
third through 12th grades that are
unable to go to school by having certifi
ed teachers visit their homes or
by having those students participate
in individual or small group classes
online. This 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 fibrosis, congenital
lung disease, congenital heart condition,
muscular dystrophy, adrenal
disorder, heart conditions, metabolic
disorders, chronic renal diseases, active
cancer, Leukemia, Thalassemia,
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 treatmentcan
apply for home instruction, too.
HEALTH SCREENINGS
This 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 mask
will be given an alternative and staff
will be given additional protective
equipment, the guidebook notes.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
The 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.
Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter greets a P.S. 064 Robert Simon student
in April. Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
