Delay NYC School COVID Vax Mandate, Unions Say

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's public schools face a "nightmare scenario" the day after a coronavirus vaccine mandate for teachers and staff takes effect, union leaders say.

The heads of the city's teachers and superintendents unions called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to delay the start of a Sept. 27 vaccine mandate.

Several schools have between 30 and 100 staffers currently on the non-compliant list, meaning those unvaccinated workers can't show up to work, said Mark Cannizzaro, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.

“The truth is at this point principals and superintendents have been reaching out to consistently to tell us that they are concerned about not having enough staff come Tuesday, Sept. 28,” he said Friday.

“This is the nightmare scenario: a school finds out that it’s missing ‘X’ number of staff and the school cannot get enough people in the following day and then the school is put into a horrendous situation,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the city will go forward with the Sept. 27 mandate, especially after a union court challenge against the requirement fizzled.

The majority of school staff are vaccinated — more than 90 percent of principals and teachers have received their shots, the union leaders said — but even the small percentage of unvaccinated staff still number in the thousands.

Mulgrew said if just 5 percent of his union's members are unvaccinated that will number 6,000 teachers.

Cannizzaro dismissed de Blasio's promise that school officials will activate thousands of substitute teachers. He said the question isn't just whether those subs are qualified for the needed subject areas, but also whether other school staff like safety agents are available.

“Can you imagine the emergency evacuation drill with one safety agent and 20 to 30 substitute professionals in the building,” he said.

Both Cannizzaro and Mulgrew blasted de Blasio for what they called a complete lack of a plan.

“Until there is a plan to make sure schools are safe, we need to reevaluate what we’re doing going forward,” Cannizzaro said.