Monday, May 18, 2009

Hundreds of kids absent at Maspeth's IS73


From WNYC:

As concerns of swine flu heighten, officials from the teachers union and the health department are at I.S. 73 today in Maspeth, Queens, where hundreds of students are absent today. The authorities need to know if the students are actually sick or have been kept home to prevent them from catching the flu. Once they gather this information, they can decide which schools are going to close and which can stay open. At I.S. 73, 329 students out of more than 1,700 did not come to school today. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and representatives from the American Federation of Teachers are asking the parents of I.S. 73 to call in if their children are absent.

The UFT has set up hotlines to track the outbreak.

25 comments:

linda said...

OMG, i really wished i was outside when they were there. i would of asked why won't they just closed down all schools for the remaining time left. my son came home and he said kid was out due to the flu from saint adalberts. i spoke with a teacher from ps58 and she said 80 kids were out. what is it going to take to get through their heads. st.a's, is 73, ps 58, is 5, hello dumb asses it's spreading everywhere......

Anonymous said...

OMG I have two children that go to St. Adalberts and have not heard that yet. That is all we need.

ew-3 said...

Since the city gets a per diem per student every day they are in class from the state (and perhaps the feds now), the city would take an economic hit closing the schools.
Would be interesting to see if the state (and feds?) waived the attendence criteria for the next 30 days. Perhaps more schools would get closed.

Anonymous said...

why don't these teachers strike until they are assured that they are not working in a [biologically] hazardous work area?

Anonymous said...

ew-3 is 100% correct. That's why the city is always so reluctant to close the schools, even in 2 feet of snow. They lose money if they close.

Now isn't money so much more important than lives??

Anonymous said...

Maybe when Prep got hit with this, they should have mandated that all siblings should stay home from school! Maybe this would not be as bad as it is now. Feeder schools to the middle school is the big problem. Hello, somebody think that is making the BIG bucks!!!You don't need a masters for this!!!

Anonymous said...

My neighbor called PS58 to let them know that her son had the flu and the person on the phone just said ok and blew her off. Lots of kids are sick there, but the principal is making believe that everything is okay. Everyone should keep their kids home until this blows over. Next weekend is a holiday weekend. Close the schools for the rest of the week and let everyone come back next Tuesday. This would give the custodians a chance to sanitize all the schools and prevent the kids from spreading it to each other.

Concerned in Glendale said...

The chickens have come home to roost on City Hall. And it is sad. This is what he has brought us to, Boss BloomTweed. Like LBJ during Vietnam, he should declare he will not run. We are waist deep in the big muddy, and the damn fool says to push on!

Anonymous said...

maybe the swine, I mean the mayor wants all the kids to spread the swine flu so he can get rid of the poor people?

Sid? said...

Considering the circumstances, it would be prudent to cancel classes for a few days until the full extent of the problem is known. I am wondering if the long term ramifications of this outbreak will be that somehow the eyes of the public will open to the general incompetence of the Bloomberg regime? One can only hope . . . nonetheless, let us pray for these children to have a speedy recovery.

Taxpayer said...

You want to know who's in charge of this nightmare?

Look at that photo once again. There's Schools Chancellor Joel Klein standing in the REAR, while UFT's Weingarten take charge.

She's the decision maker now?

Your job is to dump this miserable moron Commissar on November 3.

Anonymous said...

How are the Catholic schools faring? Anyone know?

linda said...

My son said his classmate was out because she had the flu. well i figure it takes up to five days, before it hits the next person, so i'll watch him (he had a flu shot, in oct) not to say it will help with this flu. I'm not saying st. a's is infected but you should watch your child, don't want to start alarming people. and i did notice klein with his smurk face in the picture. what's up with the big black one looks like he wants to laugh.

Anonymous said...

I would trust Randi first. At least she and the UFT membership actually have stood in front of classrooms. Do you know that you can be a NYC principal without ever having worked as a teacher?

They all have business backgrounds today. In my day, the principal was Dr., so and so, and he could step in front of a classroom and demonstrate how teaching should be done.

Anonymous said...

I heard the principal of ps 58 doesn't take this swine flu serious and acts like not in her school. there are pregnant teachers and they should be sent home just in case there is a break out in her school. 80 children didn't show up, hello that means something.

Taxpayer said...

"...representatives from the American Federation of Teachers are asking the parents of I.S. 73 to call in if their children are absent.

The UFT has set up hotlines to track the outbreak."

- - - -

The UFT will be tracking this outbreak?

What are we paying taxes for?

Is Weingarten now on the payroll?

Anonymous said...

Gioass must have trsaveled the city to bring the virus home so he could show up at a press conference

Anonymous said...

Taxpayer, you would be shocked to know how involved the UFT is in running the schools. I have personal experience, having worked in UFT's Teacher Center for nearly 5 years.

People would not be so hostile towards the union if they knew how many times the union picked up the ball when the Board of Ed dropped it.

Bottom line, the mayor and his people are appointing people with no pedagogical experience to sensitive spots.

The union may have an ax to grind, but at least its members have firsthand experience of what the schools are like, and have some concern for the children.

Anonymous said...

I GO TO IS73 I FEEL SPECIAL CAUSE IT WAS TODAY AND I SAW IT FROM MY ENGLISH CLASS. I HOPE THEY DONT CLOSE IT DOWN EVEN THOUGH I .....DISLIKE SCHOOL I HAVE NOTHING TO DO! DAMN SWINE...

Anonymous said...

good to see the mayor and govener let st johns close just in time for the swine flu idiots

Anonymous said...

the state didn't help out saint john's. and now we only have elmhurst, wow we're all doomed. did you see on the news all the patients at the hospital wearing masks. again i think they should close all schools, if not for the entire remaining season at least two weeks.

Anonymous said...

As a teacher at IS 73, I am outraged that the school has not closed yet. We have over a dozen teachers ill, families of teachers becoming ill, and had 543 students absent today. What will it take for the city to close our school? Rumor has it they are using 73 as an example and will NOT close it to show that a school can remain open through the flu outbreak...what bs!

Anonymous said...

LINDA'S SON GOES TO MOLLOY. STOP IT WILL YOU LINDA!

Anonymous said...

PS 229 on Calamus Avenue/69 street has a lot of children out with Flu Symptons.

Taxpayer said...

A Moron Anonymous said:
"LINDA'S SON GOES TO MOLLOY. STOP IT WILL YOU LINDA!"

- - -

Well, moron, does that mean she no longer pays city property taxes that pay for this Commissar and his lickspittle Klein?

Does that mean that anyone whose child attends one of the (no! THE) greatest parochial high schools in the nation have lost their freedom to criticize a moronic government?

Or, are you just another anti-Catholic bigot who rages when another kid gets a terrific education?