Some teachers express concerns over reopening plans for New York state schools

Some teachers say they are concerned for their safety following Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announcement of plans to reopen New York state schools.

News 12 Staff

Jul 14, 2020, 4:58 PM

Updated 1,621 days ago

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Some teachers say they are concerned for their safety following Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announcement of plans to reopen New York state schools.
Now that Cuomo says he is going to let the data guide his decision when it comes to reopening schools, parents and teachers say it is raising questions and concerns.
President of the Farmingdale Federation of Teachers Cordelia Anthony says most of the concerns center around how to social distance during the school day, having enough Personal Protective Equipment for staff and students, and the hybrid distance learning model.
"It's going to be a difficulty managing if every district is doing something different. That's going to be hard on child care, that's going to be hard planning for parents in general if your teacher who lives in one district, and they're having a different reopening plan than the district you work in. That's been a big concern for child care situations," Anthony says. "Then, there's the concern of people with underlying health conditions that I've been hearing a lot about, or they live with a child or parent who has an underlying health condition. So they're concerned, even if they may be healthy themselves that they'll bring the virus to someone who's more imuno-compromised."
Plans to reopen schools are due on July 31.