© Anthony Behar
NY: NYC Public Schools Prepare To Open For Fall Classes
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s newly sworn-in mayor insisted Monday that schools would open for in-person learning despite an omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 infections, saying administrative staffers would pinch-hit for absent teachers.
“Where we see a drop in staffing we’re going to draw from our pool of employees who are waiting,” Democrat Eric Adams said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” adding: “If you have a teaching license we want you in that classroom, in that school building. And we’re going to shift and adjust in real time.”
Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio, announced a plan last week to reopen schools after the holiday break with increased surveillance COVID-19 testing and at-home COVID-19 tests sent home with students who have an infected classmate.
Adams, who took office on Saturday, said the plan will ensure that students are safe.
“Parents, bring your children to school. We are going to be safe and we will be open to educate our children,” he said.
The United Federation of Teachers has asked Adams to postpone in-person learning for a week to assess potential staffing shortages given the rise in COVID-19 cases across the city and the nation. The city reported more than 35,000 new infections on Saturday.
The city Department of Education website listed eight schools that were closed because of the virus, out of about 1,700.
“We want to be extremely clear. The safest place for our children is in a school building. And we are going to keep our schools open …”
— NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) pic.twitter.com/GcMJOXpWI9
— The Recount (@therecount) January 3, 2022
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