Schools: The New Normal | DOE Reports 21 Buildings With At Least One Confirmed Coronavirus Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Most of New York City public schools children who signed up for in-person learning won't set foot in a classroom until next week.
However, the Department of Education is already reporting COVID-19 in buildings. Last night, it released a report outlining recent cases.
The DOE said 21 buildings had at least one case from over the weekend. Close contacts from 14 schools are now in quarantine, since they were reporting to work.
Meanwhile, I.S. 219 in the Bronx and P.S. 165 in Manhattan were forced to close for 24 hours after each had two confirmed cases.
This as the city prepares for nearly 1 million more children to return back to school next week.
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CBS2's political reporter Marcia Kramer asked the mayor if they will be taught by a teacher or learning on iPads.
"Our kids are going into classrooms staffed by adults ready to teach them in-person," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Kramer asked the same question to United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and got a different response.
"It really varies on the school. If it's a school with a lot of specialities inside it, the percentage will be higher. If it's a school with a lot of electives and you're an older student, the percentage will be higher," he said.
Physics classes and other subjects where fewer students sign up could be done remotely, said Mulgrew. He added that the teacher shortage is the reason.
The city's blended learning approach this year requires an additional 7,000 teachers.
"If we wanted to put a live teacher for every subject... 7,000 teachers would be 14 or 15,000," said Mulgrew.
As it is, the city is struggling to fill the new teaching slots. The mayor is refusing to say how many new teachers are actually needed, but is confident all the spots will be filled.
"I feel good that we'll have the people we need when we ned them," he said.
To date, 65 teachers have tested positive for COVID-19.
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