Dear Chancellor Carranza,

We would like to begin by thanking you. During this crisis, you have spoken of educators, in each of your public remarks, with wonderful deference for the profession of teaching and with continued respect for the professionals who are in it. Although many of us maintain a deep ambivalence about the prospect of opening in September,  we are sure all stakeholders can agree that we are living during truly interesting times.  

We would also like to express to you our gratitude for hosting today’s Employee Town Hall to discuss plans for opening the greatest urban school system in the nation this Fall. While aware the forum will take place at the insistence of the governor, we are confident that you will address staff concerns with a full and open heart. We are trusting you to address our concerns, chancellor, and we are sure you will not disappoint.

Two-hundred fifty-seven public school educators across the city, the overwhelming majority of whom are classroom teachers, have come together to craft, edit and ultimately decide on presenting you with twenty-six specific questions that we would like you to address today during this afternoon’s event. Our questions represent a wide range of educators across New York City and are the result of a group effort that has taken place over the past several days. 

We are aware that this is a robust list of questions, but this is our first and only time we have been able to ask them of you. While the DoE has held many question and answer sessions for parents, we as the front-line workers who will be implementing your plan, really need answers which address these questions today and we thank you in advance for addressing them.

Although recognizing we are not using the traditional link provided in your email,  it is my pleasure to submit them here to you on behalf of all of my colleagues who have worked on these questions. Please find them at the bottom of this email.   While we are sure many of these concerns will be addressed today, we would like to highlight that these questions represent the most pressing concerns of the wide range of educators we have worked in this endeavor. 

Because of this, we all ask that you address these questions during the Town Hall today.
Thank you 
 

Because of this, we all ask that you address these questions during the Town Hall today.  Find these questions below.

Thank you, sir.

 

Educationally yours,

NYC Public School Teachers

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How will school staff be notified of a positive COVID case?

How can eating in classrooms be considered safe when there is no indoor dining in NYC?

How do you address the janitorial union’s statement that they did not have enough time for their duties before the pandemic and certainly will not have enough time for additional duties?

If someone tests positive and we need to quarantine for 14 days, are we then responsible for teaching remotely, or are we just “out” for that time? If we switch to remote, how will that transition be handled?

Last Spring, we launched into a new teaching model, called “Remote Learning” with only three days of training. This year, we may be launching into another brand-new system, now called “Blended Learning” and, as of yet, we have had no training. School is scheduled to begin in 22 days. When will the DOE offer professional development on remote and hybrid/blended models? To this date, to our knowledge, DOE has not communicated at all with teachers pertaining to training for the upcoming school year.

What are the expectations for how in-person classroom activities and materials will be handled? Many teachers are concerned about handling or exchanging work on paper, using class sets of textbooks, sharing computers and other devices, etc.

Will we be supplied with masks and face shields as we will need to face students as we give instruction? What kind of masks? Will we receive n95 or just a medical mask?

Teacher planning is an important cornerstone of a strong, stable educational experience. As teachers, we plan ahead. This is what we do. When will the school calendar be released so that we can begin planning our semester?

What safety measures for social distancing is the city making for kids who have to take public transportation? How will that affect contact tracing? 

What are the outcomes for students who do not wear a mask and/or violate social distancing? 

How long will it take to appropriately address the situation and how will we do that?

Will cleaning wipes and spray be distributed to all staff? If so, what will we be supplied?

A number of neighborhoods, including East New York and Sunset Park, have infection rates higher than 5%, at least as of August 14. Is any consideration being given to keeping schools in high positivity rate neighborhoods remote? There are also concerns about people who live in higher rate areas commuting to lower rate ones.

Will there be a public database listing positive cases and locations?

September is typically a very hot month. We do not have air conditioning in all city schools and have been recommended to not use fans. How can children safely wear masks in extreme heat?

Why is regular COVID testing for students and faculty not mandatory?

Who is cleaning up after unmasked children?

How can we continue to teach in classrooms after lunchtime when the airspace is now potentially contaminated?

How will ICT classrooms look in a remote setting? How will they will in a blended setting considering that students must be learning for all five days?

When will staff receive training for our trauma-informed start?

Ventilation is a big problem in so many of our older buildings. How will bathrooms without windows be made safe? What about classrooms that are windowless or nearly windowless? And what specific protocols are being followed to measure and maintain levels of ventilation?

The turnaround date from getting tested to getting results is around 7 days.  In order to open schools, like all the major professional sports leagues, can we mandate testing with a 24-hour turnaround on results?

If a student in my class tests positive, the class, including myself, have to quarantine for 2 weeks, does my family also have to quarantine? What about the children in my child’s class? If my child/children were exposed to me, and their class was exposed to them, don’t we all then have to quarantine? And what about the siblings in their classes?

What will happen if a student comes to school on the wrong assigned day? We have heard that there is supposed to be a room for these students to stay but how will we have the staff for that?

We have been told by the union and others that there will be two teachers for every in-person class:  one for the in-person part and one to teach those kids on the days that are remote.  Even with ATRs, administrators, and others teaching, there may not be enough teachers.  What happens then?

If there are more remote students in a school, will some teachers who do not have medical accommodations be asked to teach remote classes?  If so, where will they teach from?