There are over 1 million students in the NYC public school system, and for many of them, going back to school on Sept. 13 was the first time they stepped back into the classroom since March of 2020.
In the weeks leading up to the first day of school, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that all Department of Education staff for public schools needed to get vaccinated because there was not going to be a testing alternative.
At least 63% of all staff are vaccinated, and the vaccine mandate was only a layer in all the measures NYC had put in place to keep their students safe. Chancellor Meisha Porter claimed that there was going to be a universal mask usage policy, physical distancing, health screening, testing for students, improved ventilation in classrooms and increased hygiene.
NYC decided not to implement a vaccine mandate for the students eligible to receive the vaccine. De Blasio believed that it was not the right thing to do because the main priority was to get every student back physically back into school.
However, there is currently a vaccine mandate for students who play certain sports and are involved in certain extracurricular activities.
Any public school student who was going to participate in high-contact sports (football, basketball, etc.) needed to get vaccinated in accordance with De Blasio and the Public School Athletic League (PSAL).
Additionally, any student 12 and up who participates in high-risk extracurricular activities such as chorus, band, theater and cheerleading, needs to get vaccinated to participate because, according to De Blasio, these were activities where “folks are close together, lots of exhaling.”
NYC had specific guidelines on how schools were going to operate under a pandemic, however, on Sept. 24, the vaccine mandate for school staff hit a roadblock, and it became temporarily blocked. Starting Sept. 26, staff were going to be required to show vaccination proof, but on Sept. 24 a judge for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary injunction and will take up motion on Sept. 29.
This temporary block worries many because, unlike other school districts across the country, NYC is not offering any remote instruction. Every employee will have until the end of Monday to report their vaccination status, and those who do not have their first dose will not be able to return the next day. This can lead to shortages across the board because there are about 10,000 unvaccinated teachers, and that number does not include teacher aides, paraprofessionals, nurses, custodians and safety agents. Consequently, there is a fear that some staff will not be replaced before the vaccine mandate deadline.
Aside from the issue of staffing shortages due to unvaccinated staff, there has been a rise in cases among students. In just the first week of school, over 800 students and staff tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, 372 classrooms shut down and 303 classrooms were partially closed, meaning unvaccinated students were the only ones who needed to be quarantined. Additionally, there have also been another 56 non-classroom quarantines, which happens when a school staff member who isn’t in a classroom tests positive, therefore only the individual needs to quarantine.
Navigating how schools should reopen in the middle of a pandemic is difficult, and as one can see with NYC, even if there is a set plan, complications arise and people need to be ready to face those complications.