New York School Years: Private Lessons and Rebellious Counties

Security issues aside, the city's plans for this fall still have big gaps in both face-to-face and virtual learning, school principals say. Therefore, the school district in Brooklyn has developed its own plan for the reopening of schools. The edition writes about it Daily News.

Fort Greene Prep Academy Director Paula Lettiere and more than 20 middle and elementary school directors in the 13th District of Brooklyn, along with parents and teachers, have agreed on a single set of guidelines for reopening schools.

Proposed plan, perhaps the most detailed counter-proposal on the part of educators to open city schools. It also illustrates the chasm between the rhetoric of the hybrid bureaucratic plan and realities on the ground. “Their mission to open our schools is also our mission,” said Lettier. "Our goal is not to refuse their offer, but to be able to do what they want and do it well."

According to this plan, schools will begin to open gradually, initially focusing on all families, gradually shifting attention to admitting children by age.

Lettier admits that this could affect the rate at which children return to school. However, a hasty discovery carries various risks, she warned. For example, this can result in poor academic performance due to poorly designed classrooms, or lead to closure of classes for several weeks for safety reasons. “We want to make sure this plan is viable,” said Lettier. "We want our return to be thoughtful."

The school district claims they have waited too long for Department of Education (DOE) management. Now they need immediate access to data on how well each school building is equipped and meeting the safety standards set out in the department's reopening plan.

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There are 24 schools in the district. 13 of them were examined last week. As it turned out, only seven educational institutions received the promised batch of masks, and only eight received an electrostatic disinfectant spray, the presence of which is mandatory, since it is necessary for disinfection of premises.

Department of Education officials say they have placed an initial order for 4,4 million face masks and 3,5 million bottles of hand sanitizer. It is also reported that 7 school maintenance workers will be cleaning buildings and overseeing a stock of safety equipment. “Each school will have the instructions and safety features required to reopen,” said Department of Education spokesman Nathaniel Styer.

But district administrators want to set specific deadlines. “We believe our parents need data transparency,” said Lettier.

The same goes for ventilation. This problem is especially evident in old school buildings, where ventilation is often used instead of ventilation.

While the city promised to provide families with a report on the health of the ventilation systems in each school, they did not specify what standards these systems should meet.

To avoid ventilation problems, the school district suggested installing new fans as needed, and alternating their use with ventilating classrooms. “It's not very expensive,” added Lettier.

On Friday, August 15, the mayor of the city promised that in every educational institution in New York a certified nurse will be present... This should ensure a safe learning environment for students.

However, in addition to safety, there are still other problems, school directors say. For example, problems regarding the training format. The city's plans for this fall still have big gaps in both face-to-face and virtual learning.

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School leaders say it will take them eight days to plan work with administration and teachers to tackle difficult curricula and staffing challenges.

Executives in 20 of the 24 schools in District 13 say they will not have enough teachers to provide training in the hybrid model, and have no answer to the question of whether the department of education will provide additional staff. City officials say staff will be reassigned or recruited from the missing pool of teachers to fill any vacancies.

Lettiar has enough teachers to provide a hybrid teaching format, but she does not know what to do if one of the teachers calls and says that he is sick.

Most importantly, Lettiar wants to deliver on promises made to families - something that she hasn't been able to do over the summer as the online learning platform has experienced technical glitches. “Everyone was very excited, and then it was time to launch and we couldn't get it done,” she laments. - How many times will we ask people to go through this? There is a better way. "

As writes edition New York PostIn just a week, the number of families who refused to have their children in class jumped to 40. Most of all - among Hispanic families, according to the Department of Education.

Thus, 37% of 41% of Hispanic children chose fully distance learning.

Out of 28% of Asian children, 18% chose distance learning.

Black students make up 22% of the total population of the largest school system in the country, of which 20% chose fully distance learning.

Whites make up 16% of students, of whom 12% chose to study remotely.

The percentage of applications for distance learning in one week increased from 26% to 30%.

Even last week, the number of children who did not plan to return to school desks at the beginning of the school year was 264. As of Friday, it has already amounted to almost 305 thousand.

The number of those intending to return to school was 736 last week, and slightly more than 697 today, according to the DOE.

Recall that next month, the mayor's office will launch a blended learning model, according to which children will combine home schooling with classroom instruction. The hours that children who choose this format of education will spend in schools - from one to three times a week - may differ depending on the policy of the particular institution.

Parents looking to ditch this hybrid learning model can do so at any time, and the number is expected to grow in the coming weeks.