De Blasio faces ‘sickout’ protests in NYC revolt against open schools during coronavirus outbreak

The United Federation of Teachers, the city’s most powerful teachers union, trashed de Blasio’s refusal to close schools and demanded that he change his position. Michael Mulgrew, the union’s president, told teachers in an email, “Because of his irresponsible decision to keep the public schools open, Mayor Bill de Blasio can no longer assure the health and safety of our students and school communities.”

He added, “The mayor is recklessly putting the health of our students, their families and school staff in jeopardy by refusing to close public schools. We have a small window of time to contain the coronavirus before it penetrates into our communities and overwhelms our health care system’s capacity to safely care for all the New Yorkers who may become gravely ill.”

Teachers may end up taking matters into their own hands. Some have planned a “mass sickout” for faculty to call in sick from schools in order to force de Blasio into closing schools to stop the outbreak of the coronavirus from rippling throughout his city.

Such a move seems to have the support of some local officials. Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee said, “I strongly urge all Queens families, in no uncertain terms, to keep all children home away from school this week.”

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer shared a similar opinion, saying, “Only essential services should remain open — not bars, restaurants or movie theaters. And I am again calling for New York City schools to be shut down. We cannot go on with business as usual. This is about all of us. This is about protecting our most vulnerable.”

De Blasio, a Democrat who ran a short-lived campaign for president this election cycle, has remained steadfast in his commitment to keeping schools open even as several states and counties have shuttered theirs. On Thursday, he said, “We are going to fight tooth and nail to protect our school system. We are going to do our damnedest to keep the schools open.”

As he noted in an interview on CNN on Sunday, the decision to close schools wouldn’t just affect students and teachers. He explained that there are plenty of ripple effects to consider, including students who need free or reduced lunch for good meals, the risk of unsupervised teens roaming the city, and the needs of healthcare workers whose children require childcare, so they carry out their important work.

“I’m very reticent to shut down schools for a variety of reasons, not just because that’s where a lot of kids get their only good meals, where they get adult supervision, especially teenagers, who otherwise would be out on the streets, there’s health and safety ramifications to that,” de Blasio said.

He continued, “Those first responders, those healthcare workers that depend on the schools so they can get to work. We need those workers desperately.”

Still, parents and teachers are worried about children carrying the disease to the classroom. Principal Katie Dello Stritto, who leads a school in Brooklyn, announced that she would cancel classes after a parent of one student tested positive for the coronavirus but admitted she does not have the authority.

“I am advocating in every way that our school, as well as all New York City Public Schools, be closed at this time,” Dello Stritto said. “I can not make that decision. I would if I could.”

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson agreed with de Blasio that schools could not be closed without a plan to address the needs of students, but argued that such arrangements must be made quickly so schools can close.

“Provisions need to be made to provide [vulnerable peope] support,” Johnson tweeted. “As I have said before, schools should close. We must come up with a plan for all students, including those who rely on school for food and medical support.”

He continued, “Perhaps most importantly, we need to support our healthcare workers, including by providing childcare so they can continue to work during this state of emergency.”

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said de Blasio needs to be doing more to explain his decisions to New Yorkers.

“Mayor, you haven’t talked to the people enough. You haven’t been on television enough about this. You haven’t explained to them what this virus is, what to look for, how to protect themselves. And then also give them the facts that explain to them that we’re going to survive this,” Giuliani said on the Cats Roundtable radio show on AM 970 in New York.

“Get on television [and say]: ‘There are 10 more cases in the Bronx. We feel terrible for those people. We’re going to help them. But we’re going to make sure we contain this.’ And then you always end with a positive note,” Giuliani added.

Giuliani said that messaging strategy carried him though the West Nile virus and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

As of Sunday afternoon, the state of New York had 729 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus.

UPDATE: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday afternoon that all New York City schools would be closed starting Monday. Staff will remain in place to provide child care for essential employees on Monday and a long-term plan for food services and childcare will be unveiled by the end of the day.