As Schools Prep For Reopening, Queens Teachers Worry About Safety

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — If teachers at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School had to give the Department of Education a grade on its back-to-school plan, it would be an F-minus.

So read one of the signs a teacher held aloft at a rally Thursday morning outside the high school, which, with nearly 3,600 students enrolled, is one of the city's largest.

It's also where one teacher filmed mice and cockroaches crawling through the building, according to ABC7, and where teachers say poor classroom ventilation is reason enough to stay remote.

And, under Cardozo's plan for a combination of in-person, remote and live instruction in the upcoming year, the school is so short-staffed that 65 classes have no teachers, according to the UNITY caucus of the teachers' union. Staffers there are asking for 13 more teachers, QNS.com reported.

The city has two more weeks to fulfill that demand, after Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday announced a phased reopening plan that wouldn't send middle and high school students back into their classrooms until Oct. 1.

In-person learning was set to start Monday.

While Cardozo is larger than most other schools, City Council Member Barry Grodenchik said it's no anomaly as far as staffing needs for the upcoming academic year. He said other schools in the district are also short by double digits.

"At this school, and it’s certainly emblematic of many of the schools across the city, they weren’t going to be ready for Monday," he told Patch in a phone interview.

Cardozo HS out in front this morning demanding safe schools and necessary staffing. As of yesterday 65 classes were still uncovered and students enrolled did not have orientation. This isn't your slick commercial @DOEChancellor @NYCMayor this is what's real. #OnlyWhenItsSafe pic.twitter.com/NS7qySVIyO
— UFT Unity (@UFTUnity) September 17, 2020

The last-minute delay, which union representatives said was prompted by staffing concerns, buys some time. But it still doesn't assuage the many concerns teachers have, which took on renewed urgency once they re-entered their classrooms Sept. 8 to start preparing for the year.

The Department of Education has continued to defend its health and safety measures.

“We will not compromise on health and safety," Deputy Press Secretary Nathaniel Styer said. "We’ve shipped millions of supplies, including medical-grade masks, to schools across the City and will continue to make sure that at any given time, there’s a 30-day supply on hand. We set up a hotline for principals who needed additional protective equipment, and are providing training on proper use so we’ll all be ready for students to return. After being inspected by professional engineers, schools are completing repairs and improvements to ventilation systems prior to reopening."

Three Queens teachers who spoke to Patch said they worry the agency is being dishonest about schools being ready for the start of the year.

One District 75 staffer in Queens, who asked that the school and their name not be identified in this article, called the city's network of special education schools "the forgotten district."

The staffer said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew emailed all District 75 staffers Thursday night to tell them to report issues to their chapter leader, but the staffer said they've already been doing that, to no avail.

"Our complaints usually do fall on deaf ears," the staffer wrote in a message to Patch.

The staffer was particularly concerned about the school's supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, saying that teachers and paraprofessionals only got five masks for each adult and child in their classroom and an 8.45 oz bottle of hand sanitizer.

That's even though many students in District 75 program cannot adhere to social-distancing guidelines that recommend staying at least 6 feet apart from others, in part because some require assistance eating or using the toilet.

"I don’t see how all this will be miraculously fixed when the students arrive on Monday," the staffer wrote.

One Northeast Queens teacher, who also requested that his name not be used in this article because he isn't tenured, said he was concerned that coronavirus tests are not mandatory for everyone to enter school buildings.

Schools will have mandatory random monthly coronavirus testing starting in October, according to the Department of Education.

"If the testing protocol is not tight, then we’re really inviting the virus into the building,” he said in a phone interview.

The teacher said most of the school's exhaust fans do not work and that educators like himself are not getting enough information from the Department of Education to determine whether their classrooms have good ventilation.

Under the Department of Education's reopening guidelines, a room has adequate ventilation if outside air can enter the room and circulate.

The teacher said the MORE caucus of the teachers' union organized its own training session taught by an expert in ventilation, who explained the metrics they need to know. Ventilation reports released by the Department of Education include few details beyond whether certain equipment, like exhaust fans, or operational or not.

"Teachers have had to do that research themselves,” he said.

Another Northeast Queens teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, is so concerned that he is isolating from his entire family. His elderly mother has gone to stay with his wife and kids while he lives by himself.

He said his schools needs more teachers, more protective gear and better ventilation. He called his PPE supply "a joke" and scheduling "a mess."

"I wish the parents would know how the classrooms are," he said in a phone interview. "When they know how bad the classrooms are, they are going to switch from blended to remote — no doubt.”