Principals Union Joins Call To Keep NYC Schools Closed

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's school leaders made self-declared "dire warning" against the city's plans to reopen schools in the fall.

Bringing students, teachers and staff back for in-person school would be in "disregard of the well-being of our school communities" amid the coronavirus pandemic, stated a Thursday letter from by the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.

The union — which represents 6,400 school leaders, including principals — faulted the city's lack of communication and details on reopening plans less than a month before 700,000 students are set to return to classrooms.

"The slow rollout of guidance has forced us to once again address an unfortunate truth: schools will not be ready to open for in-person instruction on September 10th," the letter states. "A more realistic, phased-in approach would instead welcome students for in-person learning toward the
end of September, following a fully remote start to the year."

The letter's grim tone strikes a contrast with Mayor Bill de Blasio's and city Department of Education school officials' often enthusiastic proclamations on return plans.

Parents and teachers are excited for children to return, and plans are being crafted in close communication with union leaders, de Blasio has repeatedly claimed.

But several groups, both in and outside public schools, have raised concerns about the city's plan. A full paragraph of the principals' union letter raises question after question.

"When will nurses be hired for schools currently in need?" the letter states. "How will school communities be informed of repairs to ventilation systems? When will schools receive PPE, thermometers, signage, hand sanitizers and cleaning materials to comply with the safety protocols? What additional support will be given to communities if they have a higher positivity rate than the city standard? Will we have sufficient staff to schedule both in-person and remote teaching? Do our schools have sufficient bandwidth to support remote instruction? When will we receive proper guidance specific to our students with special needs?"

Those are just a small sampling of vital basic questions that need to be answered, the union's letter states.

And time is short, the letter states.

The Chancellor's office met with principals for the first time on Aug. 6 and gave them four working days to complete their individual school plans, the letter states. Teachers also return to classrooms on Sept. 8, giving them "frighteningly little time for the preparation and training necessary" to welcome students back into an unprecedented post-coronavirus school situation on Sept. 10, according to the letter.

It would be better to delay the start of in-person schooling and begin the year fully remotely, the letter argues.

The United Teachers Federation backed the concerns expressed by its principals' union counterpart, Chalkbeat reported.