I haven't been following too closely, but I do know that when the numbers in areas of Brooklyn and Queens went up, they closed only those schools, so why on earth would they close every single school bc people in Staten Island refuse to wear masks? The infection rate in my area of Manhatten is less than 1% so it just doesn't make sense. Is there nothing we can do, or is our fate in the hands of Carranza alone???
It's because that's what DeBlasio said he would do, and my understanding is that is the agreement he reached with teachers. I believe that the City should be flexible on that initial threshold.
OTOH, I see the argument that teachers and families come from all over the City for any school, so targeted measures have limited efficacy.
I guess, but they shut down the hot zone schools without thinking about where those teachers were traveling from and I didn't hear much push back about that. Furthermore, the infection rate in schools in general is also low at 1.something % so I think that proves that the schools aren't major spreaders the way indoor dining is.
@SuperMom Everyone agrees that schools are not the problem. I've already posted about this twice on other threads, so sorry about reposting it now, but the reason they will close schools is because it is one of the few things that the government can actually control. They can't control how people socialize. They can't control secret, large gatherings. But if they close schools, schools are closed and parents who had been going to work will need to scale back. Mark Levine, on the health committee, has said that shutting down schools will send the message that things aren't normal. The fact that the most he can say in favor of closing schools is that it will "send a message" is a clear indication that closing schools is not a matter of science, but a matter of social engineering.
All I can say is that we should be advocating for our position. I think everyone should write to Mark Levine with their thoughts. Sign the petition, talk to your government representatives.
@Anonymous They can't control private socializing but they can control restaurants and bars. They should shut that industry down and pay bailout to cover costs/wages. Keep overall circulation of the virus down so kids can keep going to school.
This won't happen though, because it would cost more than just throwing the onus on parents to work and supervize kids at the same time.
I have personally pounded the table for in-person school BUT I actually agree that the right thing to do is to shut them down between Thanksgiving and MLK day.
There are just too many variables with the holidays. We have to be realistic.
It's just frustrating that these decisions need to be made across the board, when many communities will not be impacted. My DC attend a Jewish school. I don't think people who do not celebrate understand how important it is to us to be with family and friends over the holidays. But, as a school community, we committed to safety and abstained from any in-person gatherings with friends or family. For our school community in particular, staying home for Thanksgiving and Christmas is NBD. It's just frustrating.
I'm frustrated that people cannot realize that traveling and gathering for the holidays is completely unnecessary yet school IS necessary.
it's INSANE
Because the goal is to demoralize you.
To what end, pray tell?
Mission accomplished.
Well it's working 😕
Cuomo just said that schools in the city should remain open even if the numbers go above 3%. He said that the facts have changed and the infections within schools are less than 1% and outside they are 3% so we should keep kids inside schools where they are safer. I'm praying DeBlasio listens!
Hi! Where did you see/hear this? Fingers crossed! I'd been hoping all week hed encourage DeBlasio to reconsider
It was an alert from Spectrum News! 🤞🏼
The % positive rate has been dropping infinitesimally the past two days instead of continuing to skyrocket, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page
so maybe if it levels for a sec they will have time to organize something better? Meanwhile our teacher said they all got a letter fron Micheal Mulgrew saying to pack up as if Friday was the last day, and one of my kids got a packet of supplies to take home [shudder]