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Monday, July 27, 2020

Principals' Union Sends 141 Questions To The NYC DOE That Must Be Answered Before Schools Reopen

Council of Supervisors and Administrators president Mark Cannizzaro

NYC principals’ union lists 141 ‘imperative’ questions on school reopening

https://nypost.com/2020/07/25/nyc-principals-union-lists-imperative-questions-on-school-reopening/
The city’s principals’ union has sent the Department of Education a list of 141 questions it says the city must answer before reopening schools.
The list, obtained by The Post, was included in a letter to members last week blasting the DOE’s “alarming lack of preparation”  for the first day of school, tentatively set for  Sept. 10.
The Council of Supervisors and Administrators said the questions underscore the looming problems and dangers that school leaders face.
“These are questions that are imperative for the DOE to answer,” wrote union president Mark Cannizzaro.
The list includes many basic questions on safety and sanitation such as whether every school will have a nurse, who will take temperatures, when will supplies — PPE, thermometers, signage, hand sanitizer and cleaning materials — arrive, and who will staff the “isolation room” for sick kids?
They also ask about rules to handle fights between students, or how to discipline kids who deliberately sneeze or cough on someone.
Among other issues: “What should principals do if he or she “fears and/or confirms that system-wide sanitation protocols aren’t being followed?”
“If a teacher tests positive will all of their students need to quarantine?”
“If a school shuts down, will other schools that share that campus also be shut down?”
See questions:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The question about PE teachers make sense but also has to alarm my fellow PE teachers regarding what licenses would be in line for layoffs. PE cannot happen in person. Active movement in a poorly ventilated classroom would causes heavy breathing and spreading of potential disease. Moving groups to the gym would go against the CDC guideline as would combining classes. One student gets sick with a class a cluster teacher is in then potentially every class that teacher comes in contact with is in quarantine. However, PE can be safely done at home remotely (whether it's yoga, tai chi, stretches and modified movement and challenges.) Every FitnessGram test except for the pacer can also potentially be done at home. Remotely, we can also cover multiple classes.

If the blended model is what we have to deal with in September only remote PE works.

But, if PE is no longer considered safe and viable with these conditions and teachers can't teach out of license area PE licensed personnel may be expendable.