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| The Mayor Is Ready for School to Open. The School Buildings Are Not. | The Mayor Is Ready for School to Open. The School Buildings Are Not. |
| (4 days later) | |
| Like all New York stories, the drama around the reopening of schools in the city is, in the end, a real estate story. It has the familiar whiplash plot — one that begins with hope and anticipation, is driven by obsession and uncertainty and then leaves you unraveled and scrambling for second- and third-rate solutions. | Like all New York stories, the drama around the reopening of schools in the city is, in the end, a real estate story. It has the familiar whiplash plot — one that begins with hope and anticipation, is driven by obsession and uncertainty and then leaves you unraveled and scrambling for second- and third-rate solutions. |
| Perhaps this was as inevitable as it is tragic — the educational fate of more than one million children left to square footage and HVAC quality. So many of the vital decisions New Yorkers make — about when to move in with someone, about whether to have two children or three, about staying in Brooklyn or moving to Maplewood or Oregon — depend ultimately on a built environment both stingy and unforgiving. | Perhaps this was as inevitable as it is tragic — the educational fate of more than one million children left to square footage and HVAC quality. So many of the vital decisions New Yorkers make — about when to move in with someone, about whether to have two children or three, about staying in Brooklyn or moving to Maplewood or Oregon — depend ultimately on a built environment both stingy and unforgiving. |
| Last week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that schools in the state could reopen, bringing relief to many parents who feared the devastating alternative. But it was soon clear — if it hadn’t been already — that while New York City had done an Olympian job of driving down viral rates to a point where medical experts considered it safe enough for teachers and students to return to classrooms, the extent to which buildings themselves were equipped to ensure that safety remained dubious. Air flow and ventilation were problematic, especially within the system’s many old buildings. | Last week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that schools in the state could reopen, bringing relief to many parents who feared the devastating alternative. But it was soon clear — if it hadn’t been already — that while New York City had done an Olympian job of driving down viral rates to a point where medical experts considered it safe enough for teachers and students to return to classrooms, the extent to which buildings themselves were equipped to ensure that safety remained dubious. Air flow and ventilation were problematic, especially within the system’s many old buildings. |
| There was an irony here that was hard to overlook. A city that had spent the early years of the decade policing “broken windows,’' only to send thousands of Black and Latino men pointlessly to jail, was now dealing with the consequences of so many misguided priorities. Live education delivered five days a week, an outcome infinitely preferable to having children lectured at for six hours by screen, would be thwarted, in part, by the matter of windows in literal disrepair. | There was an irony here that was hard to overlook. A city that had spent the early years of the decade policing “broken windows,’' only to send thousands of Black and Latino men pointlessly to jail, was now dealing with the consequences of so many misguided priorities. Live education delivered five days a week, an outcome infinitely preferable to having children lectured at for six hours by screen, would be thwarted, in part, by the matter of windows in literal disrepair. |
| Several days ago, Ailene Altman Mitchell, the principal of M.S. 88, a middle school at the southern end of Park Slope in Brooklyn, addressed parents about the state of play, in a virtual town hall. At the moment, she was staring down the prospect of beginning the year without a nurse in a school with approximately 1,400 students. The school has a partnership with N.Y.U. Langone Health, which had to make certain staff cuts as a result of the pandemic. The nurse that N.Y.U. employed at M.S. 88 was one of the casualties. At the meeting, Ms. Mitchell joked to parents to give her a call if they knew anyone she could hire. | Several days ago, Ailene Altman Mitchell, the principal of M.S. 88, a middle school at the southern end of Park Slope in Brooklyn, addressed parents about the state of play, in a virtual town hall. At the moment, she was staring down the prospect of beginning the year without a nurse in a school with approximately 1,400 students. The school has a partnership with N.Y.U. Langone Health, which had to make certain staff cuts as a result of the pandemic. The nurse that N.Y.U. employed at M.S. 88 was one of the casualties. At the meeting, Ms. Mitchell joked to parents to give her a call if they knew anyone she could hire. |
| M.S. 88 is offering a program in which every student will have the opportunity to be in school two days a week; many other schools, both public and private, are only able to offer one day, with distance learning filling the rest of the calendar. Ms. Mitchell had planned to use the gym and cafeteria to accommodate students and meet social-distancing requirements. But so far that effort has been stymied. | M.S. 88 is offering a program in which every student will have the opportunity to be in school two days a week; many other schools, both public and private, are only able to offer one day, with distance learning filling the rest of the calendar. Ms. Mitchell had planned to use the gym and cafeteria to accommodate students and meet social-distancing requirements. But so far that effort has been stymied. |
| “For years we didn’t have air-conditioning,’’ Ms. Mitchell told me. “Then we got an AC grant. The contractors showed up, but then they never came back and finished the job. It’s not that bad because we never had it, but I would be less apt to put kids in there,’’ she said. Last spring, one of her teachers contracted the coronavirus and was in a coma for 88 days. Ms. Mitchell’s father died of Covid-19. | “For years we didn’t have air-conditioning,’’ Ms. Mitchell told me. “Then we got an AC grant. The contractors showed up, but then they never came back and finished the job. It’s not that bad because we never had it, but I would be less apt to put kids in there,’’ she said. Last spring, one of her teachers contracted the coronavirus and was in a coma for 88 days. Ms. Mitchell’s father died of Covid-19. |
| In recent weeks, a movement to hold classes outside has gained a lot of enthusiasm from parents — thousands of whom have signed a petition asking the city to appropriate the space, and provide shelter for bad weather. In the course of two days at the end of last month, Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope on the City Council, received proposals from 14 schools in his district for outdoor space. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference earlier this week that the city is pursuing various options for schools to expand their footprints, so far the departments of transportation and education have done little to meet this demand, and some school administrators have said that it is virtually impossible to even get calls fielding these kinds of requests returned. | In recent weeks, a movement to hold classes outside has gained a lot of enthusiasm from parents — thousands of whom have signed a petition asking the city to appropriate the space, and provide shelter for bad weather. In the course of two days at the end of last month, Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope on the City Council, received proposals from 14 schools in his district for outdoor space. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference earlier this week that the city is pursuing various options for schools to expand their footprints, so far the departments of transportation and education have done little to meet this demand, and some school administrators have said that it is virtually impossible to even get calls fielding these kinds of requests returned. |
| A spokesman for the mayor’s office, though, said the city was still “actively coordinating to evaluate outdoor space,’’ and was “grateful for every school community’s flexibility and creativity as we navigate an unprecedented crisis.” | A spokesman for the mayor’s office, though, said the city was still “actively coordinating to evaluate outdoor space,’’ and was “grateful for every school community’s flexibility and creativity as we navigate an unprecedented crisis.” |
| Updated Aug. 31, 2020 | |
| The latest on how schools are reopening amid the pandemic. | The latest on how schools are reopening amid the pandemic. |
| Those schools with lots of land, however, find themselves in a different and enviable position. Thanks to the foresight of trustees at Poly Prep Country Day School, more than a century ago the school acquired 25 acres of land, making up the former home of the Dyker Meadow Golf Course in Brooklyn. As a result, Poly Prep is one of the very few schools in New York that is planning on a near full schedule of live instruction. It is erecting 70 tents on its bucolic campus, which should allow fifth and sixth graders to be in school full time, and students in the seventh through 12 grades to be in school four days a week. One tent will be reserved for daily temperature checks and other health care. | Those schools with lots of land, however, find themselves in a different and enviable position. Thanks to the foresight of trustees at Poly Prep Country Day School, more than a century ago the school acquired 25 acres of land, making up the former home of the Dyker Meadow Golf Course in Brooklyn. As a result, Poly Prep is one of the very few schools in New York that is planning on a near full schedule of live instruction. It is erecting 70 tents on its bucolic campus, which should allow fifth and sixth graders to be in school full time, and students in the seventh through 12 grades to be in school four days a week. One tent will be reserved for daily temperature checks and other health care. |
| Various other independent schools, among them Riverdale Country Day in the Bronx, are also making use of ample outdoor space for tenting. Collegiate, the 382-year-old boys’ school on the Upper West Side, which has an endowment of more than $70 million, is considering a full return to classrooms, according to a letter sent to parents. This is conceivable because Collegiate finished construction on a state-of-the-art 180,000-square-foot building two years ago for a student body of 660. | Various other independent schools, among them Riverdale Country Day in the Bronx, are also making use of ample outdoor space for tenting. Collegiate, the 382-year-old boys’ school on the Upper West Side, which has an endowment of more than $70 million, is considering a full return to classrooms, according to a letter sent to parents. This is conceivable because Collegiate finished construction on a state-of-the-art 180,000-square-foot building two years ago for a student body of 660. |
| Given the constraints that educators will be working with, it is no wonder that so many are fearful of returning to school. On Wednesday, New York City’s principals joined the United Federation of Teachers in expressing its concern about the safety of school reopening. In a letter to the de Blasio administration, principals called for a delay to any start of a live academic year, on the grounds that they do not believe that buildings will be ready to welcome students in September. | Given the constraints that educators will be working with, it is no wonder that so many are fearful of returning to school. On Wednesday, New York City’s principals joined the United Federation of Teachers in expressing its concern about the safety of school reopening. In a letter to the de Blasio administration, principals called for a delay to any start of a live academic year, on the grounds that they do not believe that buildings will be ready to welcome students in September. |
| And really, why would they believe such a thing? While the city is working to upgrade air-filtration systems in schools, it is painfully clear how inaccurate time tables for the completion of this kind of work can be. If there is a notion truer than everything being about real estate in the end, it is that anything involving renovations in New York takes at least twice as long as it is supposed to. It is easy to see how optimism can fade. | And really, why would they believe such a thing? While the city is working to upgrade air-filtration systems in schools, it is painfully clear how inaccurate time tables for the completion of this kind of work can be. If there is a notion truer than everything being about real estate in the end, it is that anything involving renovations in New York takes at least twice as long as it is supposed to. It is easy to see how optimism can fade. |