QBP Richards lied about education chairperson's removal

 

Queens Chronicle

Adriana Alicea, a Community Education Council 28 member appointed by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards who came under fire for posts on her social media, is still serving on the panel despite both Richards and the Department of Education saying her seat had been vacated.

The borough president expressed concerns about the handling of her status on the CEC in a Jan. 3 letter to schools Chancellor David Banks.

“I am writing concerning an individual whom I had previously appointed to Community Education Council 28, Adriana Alicea, and the lack of clarity in your agency’s position regarding her current status as a member of the CEC,” Richards wrote at the start of the letter, which was sent via email to the chancellor.

In the letter, obtained by the Chronicle, Richards wrote that he sought Alicea's resignation after reviewing her social media posts. Some on her personal X page contained hateful, pro-Palestinian and anti-white rhetoric regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

“While all are entitled to their personal opinions regarding this horrible conflict, after reviewing these statements, I concluded that several of them fundamentally were incompatible with her duties as an appointed public servant, including an explicit defense of Hamas and a justification for students targeting a Jewish teacher at Hillcrest High School on November 20, 2023,” Richards told Banks.

According to the letter, on Dec. 5, Richards’s general counsel spoke with Alicea, informing her of the borough president's request for her resignation. Richards wrote that Alicea “indicated that she acceded to this request.” 

Separately, Alicea also told the Chronicle at the time that she was being stripped of her appointment. She could not be reached again for comment.

“But later,” Richards wrote, “Ms. Alicea contacted members of the Family and Community Engagement team to either dispute or attempt to withdraw that resignation, instead characterizing what occurred as a removal. My office’s position has been and continues to be that this seat became vacant on December 5.”

Of her attendance at the following calendar meeting, Richards wrote, “On December 7, 2023, Ms. Alicea attended the CEC 28 meeting, and amidst the confusion that body’s president stated that absent a written communication from my office clarifying her status he would continue to recognize Ms. Alicea as a member. The controversy dominated that meeting at the expense of important business.”

To address the matter, Richards said his general counsel then met with senior members of the FACE team on Dec. 8, according to the email. FACE advised Richards to send written communication to the CEC 28 president, clearly stating the borough president's position and to appoint a new member to fill the vacant seat.

“On December 13, we submitted to FACE the name of my preferred new nominee and on December 15 I sent a letter to the CEC 28 president, copying FACE, clarifying my position that the seat was now vacant and that I would be appointing a new member shortly,” Richards wrote.

“On the evening of December 15, FACE notified my office that my preferred candidate had cleared their vetting, and then I formalized that appointment on December 19 by notifying the nominee as well as FACE.”

However, according to the letter, on Dec. 21, a representative from the DOE’s intergovernmental team informed Richards' office that Alicea's refusal to provide a written resignation would hinder the appointment of a new member. 

“My concern is that the conflicting messages from your agency to my office regarding this matter has hindered our shared ability to move forward in the best interests of the students and families of District 28 and generated unneeded confusion and controversy,” Richards wrote. “I look forward to working with you to resolve this matter.”

The Borough President’s Office on Friday told the Chronicle that it had not yet received a written response to the letter.

 

Racist hacks into South Queens Education town hall zoom meeting

30,000

 

NY Post

New York City public schools are on track to lose close to 30,000 students by this fall, according to new city data.

Projections from the Office of Student Enrollment, shared with The Post Friday, showed the city Department of Education expects to enroll roughly 28,100 fewer students this fall, and another 2,300 students by the end of the school year.

The figures account for students in all geographic district schools — but do not include those enrolled in charter schools, schools for kids with disabilities, and other nontraditional public programs.

“Here’s what’s happening with the Department of Education,” Mayor Eric Adams said at an unrelated event this week.

“We have a massive hemorrhaging of students — massive hemorrhaging. We’re in a very dangerous place in the number of students that we are dropping,” he said.

By the end of next school year, the largest school district in the nation expects to serve a student population of just 760,439 children, the data show.

The second largest public school system — the Los Angeles Unified School District — enrolls over 600,000 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, according to its website.

The DOE on Friday doubled down on School Chancellor David Banks’ focus on responding to students’ needs and making families feel heard to stem the tide.

Roughly 120,000 students have fled the public school system over the last five years, according to the DOE.

Officials also pointed to national trends of decreased enrollment, attributing that to diminished birthrates, a lack of affordability, and relocations during the pandemic.

Adding that those problems can’t be solved in half of a year, they were optimistic about plans so far and in the works to lure families back to the public school system.

 

Seven years of severance pay for shitty shady prinicipal

NY Post 

A Queens principal accused of using fraudulent schemes to boost his school’s graduation rate can never again work with city students — but will get a $1.8 million desk job, The Post has learned.

Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, who was removed as principal of Maspeth High School last July, won’t return to any city school as a principal, according to a settlement of misconduct charges. But he can stay on the Department of Education payroll for another seven years.

Under Abdul-Mutakabbir, Maspeth HS created fake classes, awarded credits to failing students, and fixed grades to push kids out the door, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools found, confirming exposès by The Post.

Instead of trying to terminate Abdul-Mutakabbir, as city investigators recommended, the DOE settled the charges on Jan. 25 by fining him $12,000  – and barring him from working as a principal.But under the sweetheart deal – which DOE officials kept hidden for months – the disgraced educator, now age 47, will sit in an office until he “irrevocably” retires on Nov. 30, 2029.

He will pocket his current $187,043 annual salary, and get all union-negotiated pay raises for principals. He will also enjoy paid vacations and holidays, plus full health and retirement benefits, which will cost at least $78,558 a year in addition. The total cost will come to more than $1.8 million.

City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), who first called attention to Maspeth HS malfeasance after meeting with a group of whistleblower teachers three years ago, was outraged to learn of the golden parachute. 

 “Nothing is more absurd in city government than rewarding dishonesty and cheating,” Holden said, calling Abdul-Mutakabbir’s lucrative deal a huge waste of taxpayer funds.

Chancellor David Banks, who promised to cut waste and bureaucratic bloat when he took the DOE reins on Jan. 1, would not comment on Abdul-Mutakabbir’s case. 

“When I see evidence of egregious actions amongst a small number of individuals in our schools, we will move aggressively and expeditiously to remove those people from our schools and payroll permanently. We seek the best outcome for students and taxpayers,” he said in a statement.

Teachers told investigators that Abdul-Mutakabbir pressured teachers to pass students whether they learned anything or not, the SCI said in a report completed last June.

“I don’t care if a kid shows up at 7:44 and you dismiss at 7:45 — it’s your job to give that kid credit,” Abdul-Mutakabbir was quoted as telling a staffer. He said the school would give a lagging student a diploma “not worth the paper on which it was printed” and let him “have fun working at Taco Bell,” the report said.

 

Chancellor Porter screwed up, enables superspreader at Astoria school

Astoria Post 

The city shut down an Astoria public school for 10 days due to a COVID-19 outbreak among students and teachers.

The Department of Education closed the doors of P.S. 166 The Henry Gradstein School beginning Wednesday after 25 positive cases were reported in the last seven days. All classes are being held remotely during the 10-day closure, which ends on Nov. 19.

According to DOE data, 22 students and three staff members tested positive for COVID-19 from Nov. 3 through Nov. 9.

P.S. 166 is only the second school to be fully closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak since the start of the school year. The first was in East Harlem.

The DOE aimed to reduce the number of school closures — which parents said interrupted their childrens’ learning last school year — when it introduced a new COVID-19 policy this term.

The current policy states that schools will only be closed when the city’s health department determines that there is “widespread transmission” in the school. The DOE, however, doesn’t specify how many cases determine the threshold for widespread transmission.

Previously, the DOE shuttered school buildings for two weeks when at least two unrelated coronavirus cases were confirmed. The policy resulted in frequent closures, which parents said created instability and confusion for young students.

The policy change appears to have resulted in fewer interruptions thus far.

Prior to a full closure, the DOE shuttered several classrooms at P.S. 166, meaning full classes of students and their teachers were quarantining and learning remotely.

Since classes began on Sept. 13, there have been 37 total positive cases among the 975 school members — both students and staff — at P.S. 166.

This school already had 15 staffers test positive and Porter kept this "gold standard" going for another 8 weeks. Even more deranged is that a vax short bus was going to stop by PS 166 to get kids inoculated for and I quote Dr. Davey Fauci Jr. "extra layer of protection"

de Blasio's D.O.E. will use fed funding to contract non-profits for schools recovery

NY Post

The city Department of Education has allocated $350 million in federal funding to combat educational damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, The Post has learned.

According to a budgeting memo issued last week, the money will support a range of initiatives from literacy programs to new arts offerings.

Every school in the nation’s largest public system will receive a minimum of $75,000 and a maximum of $600,000 to aid in “academic recovery” after the pandemic upended consecutive school years.

Each recipient must dedicate at least 20 percent of its award to pay for arts-related programs, according to the memo.

While the money cannot be used to hire new full-time teachers, the document states that schools can use it to finance additional class sessions and nonprofit partnerships aimed at helping kids get back on track.

“This funding is available for expenses incurred September 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022,” the memo reads. “Schools are encouraged to schedule funds and implement eligible programming as soon as possible.”

The money will also be used to pay teachers to systematically assess the academic standing of their students and address learning gaps.

Try not to breathe kids

 

  

Gothamist

Thousands of New York City classrooms have been cleared as having adequate ventilation for safe, in-person instruction even though they do not meet the COVID-19 standards set by federal experts or recommended by building industry experts, WNYC/Gothamist has found.

A simple, green checkmark indicates whether “operational ventilation” is available in one of the 58,600 classrooms surveyed by the city’s Department of Education (DOE). As of August 29th, officials have awarded this seal of approval to 97% of these classrooms.

But the DOE classifies at least 4,000 of these approved classrooms as relying exclusively on functioning windows—a lower standard than what would be expected to prevent airborne transmission of the coronavirus indoors. If these window-only rooms lost their “operational” status, it would triple the number of classrooms currently ineligible for in-person learning this fall.

“Windows are not a reliable way for you to get outside air,” said Dr. Marwa Zaatari, a mechanical engineer and member of the Epidemic Task Force of the American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), which is cited in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for schools and other buildings. “Is it better than zero? Yes. But, as a ventilation engineer, can I predict how much [fresh] air you're getting at each hour of the day? The answer is no.”

 

 

 The Classic

Given that aerosolized particles with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can remain suspended in the air for long stretches of time, ventilation and air purification represent key preventative strategies. In its guide to opening schools, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends schools consider adding portable air purifier units with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to “enhance air cleaning wherever possible.” The CDC’s FAQ on ventilation notes, “Portable HEPA filtration units that combine a HEPA filter with a powered fan system are a preferred option for auxiliary air cleaning.” 

An investigation by The Classic has found that, though it has told the public that two “HEPA Purifiers” will be in each classroom this fall, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) will be providing devices (Intellipure compact air purifiers) that do not match that description. The DOE has repeatedly referred to the Intellipure units as “HEPA purifiers” on its website, in a “DOE Homecoming Health and Safety Guide,” and in statements to The Classic. Multiple experts have told The Classic that to be a “HEPA Purifier” the units should have within them an actual HEPA filter, but they do not.

When asked by The Classic to comment on the accuracy of the DOE’s decision to describe the Intellipure units as “HEPA purifiers,” DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said, “We never said that the units had HEPA filters. We said that they met the standard for HEPA filtration. That they are HEPA purifiers.”

On Twitter, Mr. Styer claimed that HEPA refers to a rating that could be applied to “different types of machines” that filter particles at the level of HEPA filters. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the designation HEPA is specifically applied to “a type of pleated mechanical air filter” tested to a standard level of efficiency. Citing the CDC, Mr. Styer said that because Intellipure’s process as a whole can filter at HEPA filter levels, it is a HEPA purifier. The Classic contacted the CDC, however, and a representative said the two technologies are distinct. 

“The distinction between an air cleaner using a true high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter and one that does not should be clear,” said Dr. Steve Martin, an engineer and expert on ventilation at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a branch of the CDC, in an email to The Classic. 

Dr. Martin said that while “it is certainly possible for other air cleaners to use a combination of filtration technologies that can perform at ‘HEPA-equivalent’ levels (and maybe even higher),” the Intellipure air purifiers are not true HEPA devices. “The distinction should be clear between true HEPA air cleaners and others,” he said. 

The difference between a true HEPA filter and a HEPA-equivalent device can be significant, according to Dr. Martin. “The biggest concern with air cleaners claiming ‘HEPA-equivalent’ performance is how they perform over time. As a true HEPA filter loads with particles over time, the overall filtration efficiency will only increase.  The same can not necessarily be said for other technologies,” he said. 

Other experts spoke to The Classic about whether it was accurate for the DOE to describe the Intellipure units as HEPA purifiers to the public.

“HEPA refers to having a specific type of filter… so a product should have one of those filters in it to be a HEPA purifier,” said Dr. Delphine Farmer, an atmospheric chemist with a research focus in air pollution from Colorado State University, in an email to The Classic. 

According to an email from Dr. Donna Green, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia and a founding member of the Climate Change Research Centre, “[Intellipure] uses a different process, which may meet or exceed the filtration standards of a HEPA, but that only makes it HEPA like, not true HEPA.”

The HEPA filter level of efficiency is set by the United States Department of Energy, but manufacturers do not receive certification for their filters from the government. Dr. Martin said, “HEPA filters are tested and certified by their manufacturers according to consensus standards.” The consensus testing standards he referenced come from the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, a nonprofit membership organization.

de Blasio's Dept. of Education also covered up lead contamination

 

Gothamist 

Thousands of water fountains, faucets and water bottle refilling stations in New York City schools sat out of commission for months while they awaited additional safety testing or repairs to remove lead. That’s according to a new report from the city Comptroller’s Office.

The audit found more than 5,700 water fixtures had lead levels that violated environmental regulations in 2018 and 2019. Of those, only 537—less than 10%—were fixed and ready for follow-up testing within a month of being flagged.

Once they were fixed, close to 30% of the water sources didn’t receive an additional test until after the two-week deadline laid out by the Department of Education (DOE), according to the report.

“No child, teacher, or member of school staff–whether in Washington Heights or Brownsville–should be exposed to lead in our public school buildings,” Comptroller Scott Stringer said in a statement. “Our audit found that the DOE’s testing and remediation of lead was perennially delayed—potentially exposing both students and staff to dangerous levels of lead in school drinking water.”

The report found 11% of school water sources checked between 2016 and 2019 had high lead levels, amounting to 15,860 fixtures spread across 1,323 schools. Overall, 84% of city schools had at least one water fixture with elevated lead.

Silicon Valley tech firm that hired failed NYC schools chancellor profited from the pandemic

  

NY Post 

The California ed-tech firm that hired ex-schools Chancellor Richard Carranza cashed in on the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC, reaping millions of dollars from the Department of Education under his reign, records show.

IXL Learning, Inc. — which named Carranza its chief of strategy and global development — has been paid $3.3 million by the DOE in the past two years alone. 

The Silicon Valley outfit has collected $2.1 million in NYC taxpayer funds this school year. That nearly doubled the $1.2 million it made last school year as the DOE expanded remote instruction, according to records compiled by the city comptroller’s office.

Observers expect IXL’s windfall to grow with Carranza as its salesman.

He “brings to the table a wealth of contacts and people who owe him favors” in New York, Houston and San Francisco, where he has led school districts, said Alina Adams, a Manhattan mom and writer who runs the website “NYC School Secrets: Parents Helping Parents.”

“Some of the people in charge of deciding whether or not to buy IXL products will be the same people that Carranza hired.”   

Carranza’s new gig as a top executive for a DOE vendor raises serious conflict-of-interest questions.

 Under NYC laws, city employees may not seek jobs — including submit a resume, discuss opportunities, or interview — with a company they are dealing with as part of their city job, the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) states.

Carranza announced his resignation on Feb. 26, saying he needed time to grieve 11 loved ones lost to COVID-19.  IXL announced his hiring in a press release dated April 1, less than three weeks after his last day as chancellor.

 

High schools have seen a surge of weapons confiscations since de Blasio's reopening order

 

 

NY Post

Some New York kids returning to in-person high school this month appear to have packed a little more than their lunch, according to a top NYPD official.

Deputy Chief Olufunmilola Obe warned in a memo Tuesday that the NYPD has seen a surge in dangerous weapons recoveries at Department of Education buildings –accompanying the reopening of city high schools last week.

“The undersigned has observed an increase in the amount of weapons and dangerous instruments recovered on school grounds,” she wrote.

“The increase coincides with the commencement of in-person learning at NYC public high schools on Monday March 22 2021.”

According to the memo, 25 unspecified weapons were recovered over the course of five days.

Obe wrote that seven of the 25 weapons were discovered through school metal detectors while another 12 were found at the “perimeter” of DOE buildings.

Another 6 weapons were taken directly off of students, she wrote.

School Safety Agent union boss Greg Floyd, who wants to block the transfer of school-safety duties from the NYPD to the DOE, said the news should alarm city families.

“The group pushing for the NYPD to be taken out should take note of the job being done here to recover these weapons,” he said Wednesday. “I want to let parents know — you take the agents out of the schools and there will be no one to stop them from coming in.”

 

Board of Education comes up way short in daycare services in Holden's district

 

 

Queens Post

Council Member Robert Holden is calling on the city to make good on its promise to offer free daycare to working parents on days their children attend school remotely.

Holden penned a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza last week, calling on the Department of Education (DOE) to expand the child care program to more schools within his 30th Council district.

He said his office has received complaints from parents who don’t have access to the program known as “Learning Bridges,” which offers free daycare for public school children in 3-K through eighth grade on their remote learning days.

“The communities I represent are filled with essential workers and first-responders who worked hard during this pandemic…” Holden wrote in the Oct. 20 letter. “I find it inconceivable that so many families in my district seemingly have no access to such a critical program like Learning Bridges.”

The Council Member listed six public schools in his district — which covers Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale, Woodside and Ridgewood — where parents don’t have access to the program. Many are in School District 24, he noted.

77,000

 

 

Gothamist

New York City Public Schools are still lacking 77,000 learning devices like tablets and laptops, nearly a month after classes began, and fewer than 15% of students attending schools in person have consented to getting randomly tested for COVID-19.

These details on the rocky reopening of public schools across the five boroughs came from a long-awaited City Council hearing held by the Education and Health committees on Friday. It was the first such hearing that Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza testified at since schools reopened on a staggered basis beginning on September 21st. Councilmember Mark Treyger, chair of the education committee, was forced to delay the hearing that was originally scheduled on September 29th, the day middle school children were returning to school.

"How many requests are you in receipt of as of this moment for devices and internet as of today?" Treyger asked Department of Education deputy chief operating officer Lauren Siciliano.

"As of this moment we have about 77,000 requests, but again we then go and verify the need for the school so it's a constant evolving number," Siciliano replied.

Data released by the DOE on Thursday showed that schools comprised of more Black and Hispanic students had low student engagement during the spring when they transitioned completely to remote learning. In some cases, the devices are the only way for children to learn given that more than half of the city's one million public school students have opted for remote learning only.

"We engage with the school and to better understand which is a device that is needed in the hands of a student, which is a device that has been requested to replenish supply, and it's not uniform across the entire DOE," said Carranza.

Treyger pointed out that Mayor Bill de Blasio had been saying for weeks that every student who needed a device had gotten one.

"The fact that thousands of our kids, particularly from under-resourced communities still don't have a device is unacceptable and shameful. And I want to lay the fault squarely with the mayor and his office for being in denial about the severity of this issue," he said.

Mayor de Blasio just made another one of his donors richer with our tax dollars

 

 NY Post

No kids? No problem!

The Department of Education is bailing out a school bus company owned by a major donor in one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s biggest campaign finance scandals, agreeing to take over the firm for an undisclosed price.

Under the deal announced by City Hall on Tuesday, the DOE will take ownership of Reliant Transportation’s fleet of 1,000 school buses, other vehicles and related functions.

“This move raises all sorts of questions, including, how can the city afford it in the face of huge budget shortfalls?” said Leonie Haimson, a longtime parent advocate who heads the nonprofit Class Size Matters. “Why are they adding more city employees while threatening to lay off thousands of others?”

“And,” she added, “why move to acquire this company now, when we have no idea how long school buildings will remain open and whether any busing will actually be needed?”

Reliant’s current employees will all be offered new positions after the takeover at the city-established nonprofit formed to operate Reliant’s former business.

The nonprofit — New York City School Bus Umbrella Services, Inc. — will also be responsible for Reliant’s pension obligations, which a source in August pegged at $150 million.

Officials described the deal as “tentative” and refused to provide additional details as they spun the purchase as “a long-term investment in school bus transportation that will provide greater stability, flexibility, and oversight in school bus service in the years ahead.”

“We are doing everything we can to guarantee safe, fast, and reliable bus service for the students who need it most,” de Blasio claimed in a statement. “This agreement delivers on that promise and makes a lasting investment in our school communities for years to come.”

Reliant’s parent company is partially owned by Alex Lodde, a key donor to de Blasio’s failed 2014 effort to bankroll a Democratic majority in the state Senate, who was its longtime chief executive and remains on the firm’s board of directors.

Lodde gave $100,000 to an upstate Democratic county party in de Blasio’s effort to skirt campaign finance laws, which resulted in a probe and scalding report from state regulators.

 Gothamist

The city Department of Education has signed a new deal with the city’s biggest school bus operator Reliant Transportation to acquire its 1,000-vehicle fleet and all related equipment in a contract city officials hailed as a “long-term investment.”

The amount of the contract was not revealed by the DOE, which said it’s a “tentative agreement.” It’s expected to be finalized in the first half of 2021.

New York City usually spends about $1.25 billion dollars every year on providing school bus service for about 150,000 public school students.

The Daily News reported last year that Reliant Transportation had a $120 million annual contract in the last fiscal year, though the company has been beset by complaints of delays and bus breakdowns.

Grade and High School starts soon, and the D.O.E. is still obfuscating faculty COVID-19 infections

 

 

NY Post

 The number of NYC schools where staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 ballooned to 150, including 108 where infected staffers came into contact with colleagues.

DOE officials again refused to disclose the total number of  teachers and administrators who have been quarantined for 14 days since reporting to buildings on Sept. 8

At IS 51 Edwin Markham in Staten Island, about 70 staffers — more than the 50 previously admitted — are now forced to isolate until Oct. 1.,  teachers told The Post.

“It was a s–t show,” said a source familiar with the coronavirus catastrophe. About half the faculty and all administrators have been exiled. “No one is running the school.”

After word first leaked about the massive quarantine, the DOE blamed the IS 51 staff, saying they “disregarded social distancing protocol.”

But Principal Nicholas Mele snapped back in a statement Friday calling the accusation “completely untrue.”

“We followed all appropriate social distancing and meeting guidelines,” Mele wrote.

Two sources familiar with the mess said a teacher who tested positive last weekend had worked in the building the previous week before starting to feel ill — and being sent home.

The city’s COVID-19 contact tracers then learned the infected teacher had joined a group of 43 staffers who met in the cafeteria, as well as smaller meetings in classrooms.

“It wasn’t until I spoke with the DOE and the contact tracers . . . did I learn that any meeting lasting more than 30 minutes would require everyone in the room with the identified person with a positive test to quarantine even if all safety protocols were followed, which they were,” Mele wrote.

In response to Mele’s denial, the DOE stuck to its stance that safety protocols were violated. “Based on the answers we received, it was determined social distancing was not reliably followed at all times,” said spokesman Nathaniel Styer. He did not elaborate.

Regardless of the reason, some quarantined teachers are worried about getting sick or infecting their family members.

This is just like what happened back in March before the contagion started to spread.

 

The 71% and the 75%

Twitter

Councilmember Holden demands more information on memo to conceal school coronavirus cases

THE CITY

The Special Commissioner for Investigations for city schools is probing the Department of Education’s bid to squelch coronavirus infection information in the chaotic days before schools were closed.

The investigation comes in response to a report by THE CITY revealing an internal memo advising school officials to not report cases of teachers or staff who tested positive for COVID-19 or were likely infected to the city Health Department.

Following the story, Councilmember Robert Holden (D-Queens) asked Special Commissioner for Investigations Anastasia Coleman to look into the origin of the memo — and whether it contributed to the spread of the virus within schools before Mayor Bill de Blasio reluctantly announced on March 15 that schools would be shuttered.

In an interview Tuesday with THE CITY, Holden said he believes the March 10 memo was intended to help cover up the scope of the spread of the virus within the city public education system to justify keeping schools open amid an avalanche of pressure.

“A lot of teachers were calling us and saying, ‘Why aren’t the schools closed? We have some staff who are infected,’” Holden recalled.

“This is the DOE’s M.O., this is how they operate. They were trying to cover up. They were saying to us, they want to cover this up, we don’t want to cause mass hysteria,” he said.

On March 30, SCI investigator Hector Rivera notified Holden, “I am assigned and investigating the allegations of negligence by the Department of Education, regarding the COVID-19 cases in the city schools.”

On Tuesday, Regina Gluzmanova, a SCI spokesperson, declined to discuss the investigation, stating, “SCI is in receipt of the Council Member’s letter and will not comment any further on an open investigation.”

The Department of Education confirmed this week that 50 public school staff, including 21 teachers, have died of COVID-19 illness since the pandemic hit the city.

As pressure mounted last month to shut the schools, de Blasio resisted the call, saying he feared the closure would hurt families who need their children to be in school while they’re working.

It's not just the D.O.E.'s M.O., it's the de Blasio Doctrine

Update:

NY Post

 

Most New York children “probably” already have coronavirus and are serving as vectors to spread the disease, according to one New York pediatrician.

Dr. Dyan Hes at New York City’s Gramercy Pediatrics advised parents to assume their children have the virus if they contract even mild symptoms consistent with the disease.

“I think that probably 80 percent of the children have coronavirus. We are not testing children. I’m in New York City. I can’t get my patients tested,” Hes said during an interview at CBS News.

“And we have to assume, if they are sick, they have coronavirus. Most of them, probably 80 to 90 percent of them, are asymptomatic.”

But the number of infected children is unknown because so many children don’t display any symptoms, she said — and that could alter COVID-19’s mortality rate.

 “So, these numbers are so skewed. I think that the mortality rate is way, way less than 0.5 percent for children who have it because it is so prevalent,” Hes said.

“You have to remember thousands of kids die from flu a year. This is much, much less virulent in children.”

The bigger risk lies in those infected children passing the virus to much more vulnerable populations, like the elderly or those with pre-existing health conditions.

“The problem with children is that they are so asymptomatic that they are spreading it. And our biggest mistake was that we didn’t close the public schools when we should have,” said Hes.

“So the children were the vectors to the teachers, who might be elderly or immunocompromised.”


 

School buses collect city revenue while collecting dust

NY Post

New York City is spending nearly $6 million a day during the coronavirus crisis for idled school buses, The Post has learned.

Under contracts with school-bus companies, the nation’s largest school system is obligated to pay 85% of the daily fees when schools are shut for snow or other emergencies, if the days are not made up later.

That comes to roughly $5.9 million a day for buses parked in lots while students learn from home. Normally, the city Department of Education spends close to $6.9 million a day to transport kids to public and private schools during the 180-day school year.

The DOE plans to keep paying the 85% of fees for mothballed buses, but seek other uses for them.

“This is an ever-changing situation and we intend to honor our contracts and continue to support the bus workforce while exploring ways to utilize these vehicles to serve the city during a crisis,” DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson said in an email.

Yet three weeks after schools were closed — March 13 was the last day of classes — nothing has been done with the buses.

The cost is steadily rising. Schools are closed until at least April 20, but the city has cautioned that buildings might not reopen until the start of the next school year.

City officials budgeted $1.25 billion for school buses in the current school year, the city’s Independent Budget Office reports.

Schools are closed until at least April 20, but the city has cautioned that buildings might not reopen until the start of the next school year.                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

City orders school officials to obfuscate any display of coronavirus symptons of faculty and students

 

THE CITY

Two days before closing a New York City public school building where a student tested positive for the coronavirus, Department of Education officials sent out an internal memo advising staff not to report anyone with potential symptoms to the city Department of Health, THE CITY has learned.

The memo from schools headquarters to staff systemwide went out Tuesday morning, days after Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that three public school teachers who’d been in a coronavirus hot zone had to be tested. At the same time, his health commissioner issued an order mandating that educators, first responders and city health care workers deemed at risk must be tested.

The memo lists a number of precautions to stem the spread of the virus, but explicitly makes clear the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene —  the command center for tracking the virus in New York City — should not be contacted.

“At the moment, there is no reason for any school to call DOHMH to report potential or confirmed cases. DOHMH is receiving information from about positive test results strictly from laboratories. We can support our colleagues at DOHMH by keeping their phones clear to speak with laboratories.”

Mid-morning Thursday, more than 24 hours after THE CITY asked about the logic of this approach, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokesperson Stephanie Buhle wrote in an email, “Our guidance is abundantly clear: if you’re sick, stay home. Physicians and public health professionals guide when testing is appropriate.”

An hour earlier, de Blasio announced that two schools co-located in a South Bronx building — the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology and South Bronx Preparatory — were shut down temporarily “due to a student’s self-confirmed positive case of COVID-19,” the designation for the coronavirus illness.

The statement notes that the Department of Education will “completely disinfect the building” and that the Health Department will “trace close contacts of this individual [student] to recommend quarantine and testing if necessary.” The two schools enroll a total of more than 1,300 students in grades six through 12.

Subsequently, schools officials tweeted, “At this time there is no indication that students in these schools need to be tested” but advised them to stay in their homes until further notice. The school building was shut down for 24 hours following a protocol issued last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

City Hall has not yet released any details on the circumstances that led to the student being tested for COVID-19, but during a news conference Thursday afternoon, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza confirmed the protocol advising staff not to notify DOHMH of suspected cases, explaining that the DOE did not want to “inundate” the Health Department.

City schools will remain open as scheduled during State Of Emergency because of the large amount of students who are homeless

Chancellor Cantstandya

NY Post

City schools will remain open indefinitely despite mounting coronavirus fears, Chancellor Richard Carranza told a parent group Thursday.

Carranza said the decision was driven by the roughly 100,000 students either living in temporary housing or shelters who depend on schools to provide meals and other programs — and other vulnerable groups, who lean on the school system as a vital social safety net.

That means many students would have nowhere to go and nothing to eat should public schools lock their doors, Department of Education and City Hall officials have argued.

A participant at the meeting of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Committee asked Carranza about a petition with about 108,000 signatures demanding a systemwide shutdown.

The schools chief said the DOE would maintain the status quo “until 108,000 epidemiologists” make the same demand.

Carranza reiterated that schools with confirmed coronavirus cases would be addressed on a case by case basis.


Carranza said that the building would reopen after a thorough cleaning.

High school teacher and dean fired from Maspeth High School that is under investigation by the feds

NY Post

A Maspeth High School math teacher and dean who students say gave them answers on Regents exams and texted with them has been removed, The Post has learned.

Danny Sepulveda was escorted out of the Queens school in late December “due to an ongoing investigation,” the city Department of Education confirmed.

DOE officials said the investigation was “unrelated to academic fraud.”

But Sepulveda, 30, is one of several teachers who gave kids answers during Regents exams, according to statements given to investigators.

One student wrote last year that Sepulveda re-read the questions at the end of the exam: “But while he was reading it he was only saying the right answer choice, and this made me uncomfortable because it showed he didn’t believe in me to pass the exam.”

Another student wrote that during a math Regents exam in June 2018, Sepulveda and math teacher Chris Grunert “helped me and other kids in my room with answers.”

Grunert and others accused of academic misconduct have not been removed from the school.

NY Post

The feds have started looking into allegations of widespread academic fraud in New York City schools, a Queens lawmaker says.

City Councilman Robert Holden met this month with officials in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York after his call for a federal probe of “deep-rooted fraud” in the city Department of Education.

“I’m encouraged by my meeting with the US Attorney. His team is taking this seriously,” Holden told The Post.

FBI agents have already contacted several whistle-blowing teachers whose names he provided, Holden added.

A spokesman for US Attorney Richard Donoghue declined comment.

Holden sent a letter in November to Donoghue in Brooklyn and US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan, saying “an apparent pattern of conspiracy to cover up” grade-fixing, cheating and other wrongdoing might warrant an investigation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which covers criminal enterprises.

In Atlanta, eight educators were convicted under a RICO statute of manipulating student test scores and sentenced to prison in 2015.

Holden turned over records compiled by former and current faculty members at Maspeth High School in Queens, where teachers say administrators encouraged cheating on exams, enforced a “no-fail policy,” and retaliated against staffers who didn’t play ball.