Christina Veiga
Chalkbeat
Food insecurity has jumped by 36% in the city. And it’s higher among children. An estimated 1 in 4 kids don’t have enough to eat — a 46% increase over pre-pandemic numbers.
A majority of NYC’s public school students are fully vaccinated against COVID, but deep disparities remain.
Here’s what NYC school students had to say about mask mandates, in their own words.
School leaders are taking matters into their own hands to respond to positive cases and staffing shortages. Meanwhile, calls are rising to increase COVID testing within schools as absence rates grow.
De Blasio reverses plan to eliminate high school geographic priorities and zones, after families expressed concerns about potentially long commutes.
The impact of child welfare investigations on already traumatized families can be severe: charges stay on records for decades and may affect future job prospects. Parents say they are trying their best to keep their kids safe and educated.
Kids, ages 5 to 11, started getting their shots, though demand outpaced supply at some schools and lines wrapped around the block at others. Parents got $100 gift cards after their children received the first-come, first-served shots.
New York City will no longer test rising kindergartners for entry into its gifted and talented program, which has long attracted controversy for enrolling starkly low numbers of Black and Latino students.
The mayor promised to present “a very different approach” for the programs by the end of September. Now the fate of reforms is unclear as the end of his mayoralty approaches. “It’s too late,” said State Sen. John Liu.
A federal judge temporarily blocked an order that could have barred tens of thousands of teachers and other workers from classes this week. But a panel of three jurists is expected to review the case Wednesday.
As the vaccine mandate for New York City teachers is set to take effect next week, schools are bracing for this Tuesday when thousands of educators might be barred from their classrooms.
Big changes come after just one week of school as de Blasio announces new measures designed to keep more kids in class. But entire elementary school classrooms may still have to quarantine if a teacher tests positive.
School started Monday in New York, but some students who need free MetroCards to travel to and from class are still waiting to receive them. That’s raising concerns among some principals that students could end up in trouble with the police.
The city’s online COVID health screening form crashed. Suspected virus cases hit at least two schools. Attendence was down. But many students, wearing masks, returned for the first all in-person classes in 18 months.
Eating at an indoor restaurant is limited to those who have been fully vaccinated. But in classrooms, many students remain too young for vaccines. Experts warn that lunchtime could be the riskiest part of the school day.
With less than three weeks remaining before schools reopen for a million students, New York City officials on Thursday revealed a suite of safety protocols including coronavirus testing and classroom closure policies.
With the start of classes just a month away and the COVID-19 Delta variant spreading, it’s still unclear whether — or how — many schools will adhere to the three-foot guideline. “We are very, very scared,” one Brooklyn parent said.
Will the presumed next mayor be friendly to charter schools? How will he get along with educator unions that didn’t endorse him? How will he tackle integration? Here’s a look at how it could all shake out.
Families will receive up to $132 for the months their child was out of school buildings for more than 12 days, under federal COVID relief program. Since New York City is a universal school lunch district, all will get benefits, regardless of income.
Questions are piling up about what the next school should look like in New York City, as infection rates tumble and the vaccination rate grows.