It was back to school Monday for more than 55,000 of the city’s public high school students across the five boroughs as Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed students in grades 9 through 12 back for the first time since November, calling it “a hopeful sign about our future” as the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.
But the positivity rate remains high or is rising in parts of the southern Queens district of Councilman Eric Ulrich, who is calling on the city’s Department of Education to change its protocols for COVID-19 closures. In a recent letter penned to new Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, Ulrich detailed the many challenges parents are currently facing as a result of school closures.
“For more than a year now, students have had their entire academic lives upended by the pandemic. Distance learning simply does not provide the same quality of education and necessary social interactions for our students,” Ulrich wrote. “Additionally, as parents and guardians have been returning to work, finding childcare during the school hours has become a massive burden — and oftentimes, a costly one. During a time of such economic uncertainty, we cannot afford to put parents in a position where they must choose between putting food on the table and caring for their child during school hours.”
High school students have been learning remotely since Nov. 19, when de Blasio shut down the school system due to an alarming rise in the COVID infection rate. Elementary schools reopened in December, and middle schools reopened in February.
In his letter, Ulrich notes that his office has been inundated with hundreds of complaints from school parents.
“In recent months, schools in my district have been opened and closed so many times that parents have contacted my office to complain,” Ulrich wrote. “In some cases, entire buildings were closed on account of just two positive cases.”
Ulrich went on to explain that no other facility or business has such a strict standard for operating, urging DOE to ease up on the protocols.
“While we can agree that the safety of our children and DOE staff is the highest of priorities, no other businesses, offices or facilities have such strict guidelines for closures,” Ulrich wrote. “In order to begin returning to normalcy, it is imperative we provide our children in-person learning and reopen our schools.”
