NYC to bring in 2,000 more educators for the start of school as de Blasio pushes forward with Sept. 21 reopening

Classroom

Chairs in a classroom at a school. (Advance file photo)

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- New York City will bring in 2,000 additional school staff for the start of school and launch a coronavirus rapid response situation room for school principals to report suspected coronavirus cases in schools as students get ready to return to school in just a week

De Blasio said Monday he was confident schools will reopen Sept. 21 despite concerns over whether the Department of Education will have enough teachers for in-person learning for the start of school.

“An additional 2,000 educators will be deployed into our schools immediately and that is members of the [Department of Education] team who are certified teachers,” de Blasio told reporters during a press conference Monday.

“They’ll be sent into our schools to help schools that need some additional support. We’ll be hiring substitutes, we are committed to an additional 2,000 educators immediately, and we’ll be working with each school to make sure what they need is what they get and that we’re ready for opening day,” he said.

De Blasio said last week that the city was still “fine tuning” the number of teachers it would need for the school year.

That same day, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said 61% of students had opted to do in-person blended learning and 39% of students opted for full remote learning.

The 2,000 additional teachers will come from the city’s pool of substitute teachers, temporary staff and redeployed central staff.

However, Carranza said that some programs may have to be discontinued as a result, like some of the city’s literacy programs.

De Blasio said that the additional teachers and launch of the rapid response situation room would serve as the “gold standard for showing that you can bring our education system back no matter how tough a crisis we have been through.”

The response team will be staffed with members of the Department of Education, Department of Health and city’s Test and Trace Corps.

School principals will be able to use the hotline to report suspected coronavirus cases in a school and the team will then monitor and investigate the reported case and share its findings with the school.

De Blasio also said that the city would provide free priority rapid testing for students and teachers at 22 public hospital sites across the five boroughs.

On Staten Island, the priority test site for school staff and students will be located at the Health and Hospitals Gotham Health Vanderbilt site.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.