[[link removed]]Dear John,



Like so many of you, I am beyond frustrated by the Governor and Mayor’s dueling egos over decisions about our schools during this pandemic.

Today really takes the cake for insensitive decision-making and communication. Making super-anxious parents already on tenterhooks about everything wait indeterminately to find out just whether they will have school for their kids tomorrow was cruel without necessity.

The Mayor announced today that the City reached the threshold of a 7-day average of 3% test positivity and public schools will be closed for in-person learning beginning tomorrow.

I’m angry and anxious. It is a massive failure of leadership on the part of both the Mayor and the Governor to have allowed our schools to close before we got a handle on the virus spreading in indoor restaurants, bars, and gyms, worship and other gatherings. Schools should be the last things to close, not the first.

We know how essential schools are as spaces of learning, care, friendship, and support. And we know how insufficient remote learning is, especially for our most vulnerable students. From the start, we needed city, state, and federal leaders to prioritize schools like the essential institutions they are, surging resources to protect teachers, make sure all children had access to learning devices, and provide the support and supplies our educators need to keep everyone learning and safe.

Instead we had an erratic approach to closing guided not by school-based public health data, but by a relatively arbitrary citywide threshold that threw families and educators into chaos each day as we inched closer to it. We had dueling press conferences from the Mayor and the Governor with conflicting announcements, metrics, zones, and decisions. And we had teachers and students packing up their belongings each day for weeks, not knowing if they would be coming back.

We should be using the public health data we have from school-based testing to inform decisions about schools. We shouldn't be doing indoor dining with cases spreading so rapidly. And we need to be supporting our restaurants and small businesses so they can stay afloat as we get the virus under control. Especially now that learning is remote full time again, we must accelerate the distribution of devices and ensure that all students have internet access.

The Mayor and Governor have indicated that there are likely to be closures in other industries soon, and that there will be an announcement later this week about what the reopening standards will be for schools, including far more testing. How hard would it have been to get on the same page about staying open tomorrow and Friday, closing next week for Thanksgiving, and making a good, coordinated plan for how to move forward?

There’s not much leadership to be thankful for at the city or state level this Thanksgiving, but I am beyond grateful for the work of our principals, educators, and school staff who are working incredibly hard with little support or information to keep kids learning and engaged from home and in the classroom.

Yesterday I was humbled (also saddened, outraged and inspired) to listen to D15 principals talk about their overwhelming concerns -- a lack of coordination and effective communication between principals and the COVID Situation Room, and a fear that they will go bankrupt trying to cover costs like substitute teachers, and the untenable lack of access to internet for their families in shelters and those living in basement apartments in neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Red Hook. During this pause in blended learning, I will be doing what I can to help these school leaders get some resolution to these issues. Without adequate funding, staffing, devices or clarity, they are still providing the kind of public sector leadership our families need in this crisis.

Brad

Updates and Resources

*
Latest
Virus
Data:
As
we
were
reminded
today,
the
city
and
state
have
slightly
different
data.
The
Mayor
reported
today’s
7-day
positivity
rate
was
3.0%.
In
NYC,
there
were
1,940
new
cases
yesterday.
We
have
lost
24,146
people
in
NYC
from
the
virus,
including
sadly
10
in
the
last
day,
and
290,018
total
cases
have
been
identified
in
the
city
since
the
start
of
the
pandemic.


*
Get
A
COVID-19
Test:
We’ve
been
hearing
about
long
lines
at
City
MD
sites,
but
lines
are
shorter
at
walk-in
NYC
Health
and
Hospitals
sites
[[link removed]]
and
if
you
can
get
an
appointment
online
[[link removed]]
it's
really
in
and
out
in
15
or
20
minutes
(though
you
might
have
to
check
the
website
frequently
to
find
an
available
appointment).


*
Share
Voting
Feedback:
The
Voter
Assistance
Advisory
Committee
(VAAC)
of
the
NYC
Campaign
Finance
Board
is
holding
a
virtual
hearing
on
December
9
at
5:30
PM
to
get
feedback
on
early
voting
absentee
voting
and
election
day
voting
processes.
Learn
more
and
register
here
[[link removed]]
.


*
More
Closures
Imminent:
The
Governor
said
today
that
New
York
City
will
become
an
"orange
zone"
when
it
reaches
the
3%
positivity
threshold
(according
to
the
state’s
numbers).
This
would
trigger
closures
for
indoor
dining
and
high-risk
non-essential
businesses
like
gyms
and
personal
care.
Houses
of
worship
would
be
limited
to
25
people,
mass
gatherings
indoors
and
outdoors
to
10
people,
and
all
schools
would
be
closed.


*
Grab-and-Go
Meals
Continue:
Families
and
students
can
continue
to
go
to
any
school
building
between
9:00
a.m.
and
noon
on
weekdays
to
pick
up
three
free
grab-and-go
meals.
From
3-5
p.m.,
New
Yorkers
of
all
ages
can
pick
up
free
meals
at
260
Community
Meals
sites
across
the
city.
For
a
list
of
sites,
please
visit
schools.nyc.gov/freemeals
[[link removed]]
.


*
Early
Childhood
Education
:
3-K
and
Pre-K
classrooms
in
district
schools
and
DOE
Pre-K
Centers
will
be
closed.
If
your
child
attends
a
program
in
a
community-based
center
that
is
not
located
in
a
public
school,
or
attends
a
family
childcare
program
that
is
part
of
a
DOE
network,
it
will
remain
open.



Upcoming Events

Tonight, November 18 at 6:30 PM: Community Board 6 is hosting their monthly meeting. Register here [[link removed]] .

Thursday, November 19 at 6 PM: Department of City Planning Gowanus Pre-Certification meeting about Gowanus Green. Register here [[link removed]] . If you want to sign up to comment or ask a question, fill out this form [[link removed]] .

456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-499-1090
[email protected]

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