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Despite a current surge in COVID-19 cases, the newly sworn-in mayor of New York City says that schools are safe.
Mayor Eric Adams reassured parents, whose children returned to school on Monday after the holiday break, that new testing protocols will ensure that students will be able to learn while staying protected against coronavirus. He held a morning news conference to discuss the city's ever-changing plans.
"We're going to pivot. We're going to shift. We're going to adjust. We're going to get it done," said Adams. "That's the bottom line. We're going to keep schools open.
Adams will enforce a plan introduced last week by his predecessor Bill de Blasio that will enforce stricter COVID-19 testing measures at schools around the city. Newsweek previously reported that students will be sent home with testing kits if one of their classmates tests positive for the virus. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated students will also be eligible for random testing.
As students in New York City return to their classrooms, COVID-19 cases continue to increase. The city averaged around 36,900 new cases per day last week. This statistic is about double the number of average new cases per day in the week before schools closed for break. Eight schools in the system are currently closed due to the virus.
David Banks, the new schools chancellor, said the city has shored up its pool of substitute teachers and had administrative staffers available to pinch hit for teachers who are absent because of the virus.
"All indications are that we're in a pretty good place right now," Banks said.
Adams said his office is studying whether the city can mandate testing in schools, trying to determine if there are sufficient supplies and if Governor Kathy Hochul needs to sign off on such a move.
"I'm a believer in mandating testing," Adams said.
New York City officials have said since the early days of the pandemic in 2020 that mask mandates, social distancing and other safety measures meant children were safer in school than anywhere else.
Esther Farran said she felt fine about taking her 4-year-old daughter to her public preschool in Manhattan on Monday.
"I'm not very apprehensive, and really, we don't have any other options," Farran said, noting that she and her husband work. "And I see that this particular school takes good precautions."
Trisha White said in-person school was far better for her 9-year-old son than remote learning was.
"He could get the virus outside of school," she reasoned as she dropped her son off and headed for work, "so what can you do? You know, I wouldn't blame the school system. They're trying their best."
The United Federation of Teachers had asked Adams to postpone in-person learning for a week to assess potential staffing shortages given the spike in COVID-19 cases. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said Monday that the union remains concerned about staffing.
"This is going to be a very, very challenging week," he said at a news conference.
Mulgrew said the feasibility of using administrative staff members to fill in for absent teachers depends on factors such as how many teachers are out.
"There's no one-size-fits-all answer," he said.
School was canceled Monday in upstate Syracuse, New York, because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and a lack of substitutes to cover absences. The district said take-at-home tests would still be given out at city schools.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
