Mayor Bill de Blasio emphasized that he does not plan to shutter the public school system before winter recess – despite an increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the city and within classrooms. However, with the highly infectious omicron variant taking root, many educators and parents are raising alarms about spiking cases within schools and staffing shortages that are making it difficult to operate.
Asked on the Brian Lehrer Show Friday whether it makes sense to close schools, de Blasio said, “No, no, no,” adding “this is not March of 2020.”
On the previous day, the education department took the unusual step of calling on principals to quell rumors of imminent closure…
Educators said cases in many schools are surging. “We’re experiencing a massive outbreak,” said Madeline Borrelli, teacher at 1S 228 in Brooklyn. She said on Friday that there were hundreds of close contacts, with many students in quarantine, as well as dozens of staff members absent. She added that two staff members got notice of positive results while they were teaching and had to leave the building.
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