About 300,000 parents and 110,000 students contributed feedback for the five main models the city’s Department of Education (DOE) came up with to implement blended learning in September.
However, as pointed out by the over 400 members of the public on the education town hall call on Monday, that input was from before the resurging spikes of coronavirus cases across the country.
Manhattan elected officials recently hosted this meeting with the Department of Education’s (DOE) Deputy Chancellor Adrienne Austin and Manhattan Executive Superintendent Marisol Rosales to discuss blended in-person and remote learning models, and how to navigate the city’s schools reopening in the fall in the midst of COVID-19.
Now Brooklyn’s own education advocates, former public school teacher City Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate) and current public school teacher Democratic State Senate nominee Jabari Brisport are weighing in on the conversation.
The split program models were based on social distancing constraints and suggestions from surveys. The models attempt to have a median range of 9-12 students per classroom varying by school and at least 33 percent of students present for instruction.
Here’s a summary for the split program models, should a parent choose to send their kid back to school:
- Model One- Assumes a minimum of 50 percent of students will be present for in-person learning in elementary, middle and high schools. Every other day, with rotating weekdays, students will be in class in Groups A and B. Group D is all remote learning.
- Model Two- Assumes a minimum of 33 percent of students will be present for in-person learning in elementary, middle and high schools. Group A, Group B, Group C will have in-person learning 1-3 days per week and then alternate remote learning. Group D is all remote learning.
- Model Three- Assumes a minimum of 33 percent of students will be present for in-person learning for middle and high schools only with a 6-day rotation.
- Group A, Group B, Group C will have in-person learning 1-2 days per week (twice in a 6-day rotation) with alternate remote learning days.
- Group D is remote every day.
- Model Four and Five- For District 75 Schools only
Austin said planned cuts to school’s social workers and programming were rolled back, and instead cuts to the DOE’s central administration were implemented. She said during this hiring freeze they are being forced to rethink staffing and trying to be creative about the 150,000 employees that service 1.1 million students in New York City
The hour-long call continued to cover a wide range of topics, but the answer to most specific questions about what instruction will look like for students were in the “design phase.” Austin said we’re sensitive to the COVID situation and aren’t going to put anyone in jeopardy. She said they are in consultation with health officials every day.
Treyger criticized Chancellor Richard A. Carranza and Mayor Bill De Blasio for not consulting with school communities when they put forth the split models, leaving significant gaps in their plans.
Treyger pointed out that the plans to use “non-traditional spaces” and blended learning were released before the New York State Education Department and New York State Health Department guidelines were made available. “No one provided us what it costs to follow these safety guidelines,” said Treyger about the lack of communication. “How much does compliance cost?”
Treyger said he doesn’t believe the city has the staffing and financial support for daily deep cleans and disinfecting of schools, some of which are poorly ventilated to begin with. He said that he’s asking for a spending plan from both the city and state, detailing how this reopening can actually be accomplished safely in the fall.
“You cannot starve the school system and then point fingers of malnutrition,” said Treyger.
Treyger said De Blasio’s announcement for free childcare in the city at least acknowledges that plenty of working-class parents or essential workers don’t have access to adequate child care services, an issue that also highlighted glaring racial inequalities within the educational system and COVID’s monumental impact on communities of color.
But de Blasio didn’t consult providers about these free childcare services, said Treyger. He said some principals are still concerned that parents will send their kids to school even on unassigned days.
All families do have the option to opt-out of in-person instruction, said Austin, and the deadline for full-time remote learning is August 7. There will be a calendar to opt back in, but that hasn’t been determined yet. Guidelines for practical face mask policies and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for students haven’t been determined either, said Austin.
“There are really difficult decisions ahead of us and there was a lot of preparation and we are certainly still preparing and working with our principals to prepare,” said Austin about the planned reopening of schools.
Brisport said state government is trying to do all sorts of maneuvering to make reopening school seem safe, but the reality is that it isn’t safe. Teachers and school staff are not okay with putting their students and families in danger by reopening during a pandemic, said Brisport about Brooklyn school districts.
“Parents and teachers are worried about the fact that our schools are poorly ventilated and, even with alternating schedules, there will still be hundreds of students and teachers sharing an indoor space. We know this is not safe,” said Brisport.
Austin said planned cuts to school’s social workers and programming were rolled back, and instead cuts to the DOE’s central administration were implemented. She said during this hiring freeze they are being forced to rethink staffing and trying to be creative about the 150,000 employees that service 1.1 million students in New York City
The hour-long call continued to cover a wide range of topics, but the answer to most specific questions about what instruction will look like for students were in the “design phase.”
Austin said the DOE is sensitive to the COVID situation and will not put anyone in jeopardy. She said they are in consultation with health officials every day.
