2 Hunter Teachers Test Positive, Raising Alarms Among Staff

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Staff at the Hunter College Campus Schools are sounding the alarm after two teachers tested positive for the coronavirus, saying the growing outbreak is proof that the school's reopening plan lacks sufficient safety protections.

The two kindergarten teachers reported their positive tests on Wednesday and Friday of last week, Hunter spokesperson Deborah Raskin said. Two kindergarten students also tested positive last week, prompting Hunter to shut down in-person classes until Monday.

In a virtual news conference on Sunday, Hunter teachers and their union leaders called on the school to step up its COVID-19 prevention policies and suggested that they would consider calling a strike if their demands were not met.

It is the latest episode of tension between Hunter's administrators and its teachers, who have contended for weeks that the school, which is governed by CUNY, is trying to skirt citywide standards for testing, ventilation and other safety measures.

"Clearly the protocols in place at the Hunter Campus Schools are not sufficient to prevent the spread of COVID-19," Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing Hunter teachers, said Sunday.

Bowen and others said Hunter, which reopened for in-person classes Monday, should have stayed closed this week, citing Department of Education policies requiring schools to shut down for investigations when two cases are confirmed in separate classrooms.

Hunter administrators say no shutdown is needed since the four cases are within one kindergarten class. Teachers say that is misleading, since Hunter's pod-based learning system divides a single class between multiple rooms, potentially increasing exposure.

"Two out of three teachers in Kindergarten pods A, B & C tested positive for COVID and one child in pod A and one in pod C, which are in separate classrooms," teachers wrote in a document listing their demands.

The union also alleges that Hunter Campus Schools Director Lisa Siegmann refused to admit during a meeting with union leaders on Saturday that COVID-19 transmission was occurring within the school.

Weeks ago, Hunter administrators conceded to teachers' demands by pledging to begin randomized COVID-19 testing, but the program has not yet materialized. Raskin, the Hunter spokesperson, said the school is still awaiting approval from the DOE to join the city's testing program.

Beyond testing, the union is asking Hunter to separate class pods to minimize transmission, provide more PPE for students and staff and ramp up cleaning of the school building, among other demands.

Hunter's chaotic reopening saga has been characterized by constant complaints from teachers who alleged that the school's fortresslike 94th Street building lacked adequate protections to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

Staff have held protests, sued CUNY and threatened to strike one day before the Sept. 29 start of in-person classes, while claiming that administrators had left them in the dark over the details of the reopening plan.

Previous coverage from Patch:

• Hunter Campus Schools Shut Down After Students Test Positive
• Hunter Teachers Call Off Strike, Return To School Tuesday
• Hunter Teachers File Restraining Order To Stop School's Reopening
• Teachers Denounce Hunter Schools' Reopening Plan At Protest