Concerns grow that NYC school reopening date is in jeopardy

New York City public schools are scheduled to open one week from Monday, but teachers returned to buildings last week and dozens of positive coronavirus cases have already been reported.

News 12 Staff

Sep 15, 2020, 12:28 AM

Updated 1,411 days ago

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New York City public schools are scheduled to open one week from Monday, but teachers returned to buildings last week and dozens of positive coronavirus cases have already been reported.
This has led many to believe that the Sept. 21 reopening date is still too soon.
Michael Friedman has been a teacher in New York City for over 40 years and says he has been involved with the Pathways to Graduation program for over 20 years, which gives a high school equivalency diploma to students.
While he says he believes his school will be prepared for opening day, he says not all schools will be.
"The mayor promised that every school is going to have a school nurse. I'm wondering by Sept. 21 if that's really going to take place. I'd be very surprised because it's a shortage area to begin with,” said Friedman.
Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio also promised supplies for all schools: 4 million face masks, 3.5 million bottles of sanitizer, and 80,000 canisters of disinfectant wipes.
However, Friedman says that despite these promises he isn’t sold on next week’s scheduled opening day.
"I think it's too soon. There are just many things that need to be done. It is a very difficult problem,” said Friedman.
The United Federation of Teachers told News 12 last week that if conditions don't improve, they’re prepared to push back the first day of school even later.


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