Parents, students and educators rally in Lower
Manhattan for full reopening of NYC public schools
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
School community members from
across the city rallied at the Tweed
Courthouse Saturday demanding that
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department
of Education fully reopen all public schools
for all students.
The rally occurred nearly a year to the
day when de Blasio, as the COVID-19
pandemic began to grow across New York
City, closed public schools and shifted all
instruction to online learning. The public
schools reopened in September under a
“blended model” of in-person classes and
remote instruction, though the year has
seen school buildings closed for extensive
periods due to the spread of COVID-19.
However, the COVID-19 infection rate
has been low in public schools throughout
the year — and parents, coaches, teachers
and students at Saturday’s rally said the
time had come to get all children, regardless
of grade, back in the classrooms.
Maud Maron, a City Council candidate
and public school parent who organized
the rally, said that the prolonged school
closure was not based on science and that
schools provided a safe environment for
students since teachers now are vaccinated.
She stressed that virtual learning is no
NYC public schools students, parents, and teachers rally on the steps of the
Tweed Courthouse demanding the reopening of NYC public schools.
replacement for in-person education and
emphasized the importance of social interaction,
extracurricular activities and sports.
“Children need to be taught by teachers
in the classroom. Laptops will never be
able to replace teachers. Our kids need to
play sports; they need to practice with their
PHOTO BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
teammates and talk to their coaches. The
social component of schools is crucial to
children. One year is too long for any child
to go without school. We need NYC schools
open, and we can do it safely,” Maron said.
Chris Savino and her 10-year-old son
Joseph, a fourth-grader, feel that it is time
to reopen the schools since teachers are getting
vaccinated, and kids are wearing masks.
“The teacher is at home even though
they’re vaccinated. So what’s the point of
that? You know, so you have all of these
restrictions. And it’s not helping anyone,
and in the meantime by September, you’re
going to have 90% of us vaccinated. But
we’re still talking about doing the same
system that isn’t even based in science
anyway,” Savino said.
As far as Joseph is concerned, what he
misses most about school is “I think it’s
mostly playing with all my friends and seeing
all my friends.”
NYC public student-parent Stephanie
Kokinos told the crowd that her children
had 29 days of in-person instruction since
September because the school had to shut
down due numerous times because of the
two-case rule.
“This is the two-case rule that exists in
New York City public schools. A system
that is designed and set-up for failure.
This madness, it’s damaging. Our officials
use the phrase ‘gold standard.’ Shame on
them!” Kokinos declared and continued,
“Our schools are not open. Mental health
is suffering. Learning loss is incalculable.
Our most vulnerable kids, they are suffering
the most.”
Hoylman launches resource to help New Yorkers
make COVID-19 vaccination appointments
BY HANNAH MALLARD
A New York City senator announced
on March 16 that he had
successfully helped over 1,000
constituents schedule COVID-19 vaccine
appointments.
State Senator Brad Hoylman launched
a “Vaccine Appointment Help Center” on
Feb. 27 after hearing numerous reports
about the difficult scheduling process for
COVID-19 inoculations in New York.
Since then, Senator Hoylman and his
staff have helped 1,370 constituents schedule
vaccine appointments at pharmacies,
hospitals and mass vaccination sites with
the assistance of TurboVax.
“Helping constituents schedule vaccine
appointments is some of the most rewarding
work I’ve done since I became a New
York State Senator,” said Senator Hoylman.
This help center has brought great relief
in the form of a COVID-19 inoculation to
many New Yorkers, especially seniors who
have limited access to technology or trouble
operating vaccine appointment websites.
“Many of my constituents struggled with
the confusing online sign-up process, a lack
of Manhattan-specific mass vaccination
sites and the limited supply of vaccines,”
Senator Hoylman continued. “I couldn’t
be prouder of my team, who worked
around-the-clock to enable us to surpass
our milestone 1,000 successful COVID-19
vaccine appointment,” he said.
Senator Hoylman also brought a popup
inoculation site to NYCHA’s (New
York City Housing Authority’s) Pedro
Albizu Campos Plaza Community Center
on March 13 along with other locations in
his Senate district.
Residents of Senate District 27 can
request help from Senator Hoylman’s
“Vaccine Appointment Help Center”
by filling out this form https://bit.ly/
HoylmanHelpCenter.
REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ
State Senator Brad Hoylman has helped connect more than 1,000 people in his
district to COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
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