NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- The principal of a Brooklyn public school is in hot water after deciding to close the school and pivot to remote learning Monday without permission from the city Department of Education.
The principal of P.S. 58 in Carroll Gardens wrote the school community Sunday, saying the school was facing a “staffing crisis” due to COVID-19 and that the decision to close was made after she couldn’t get a “clear response” from the DOE.
“I do not believe it is fair to our families to wait any longer for guidance,” the principal wrote.
Following Monday's closure, the school will reopen Tuesday morning fully staffed, with their own teachers, substitutes and central staff for support.
The DOE said the principal didn’t have permission to close the school or send the message to the school community. The department is weighing the possibility of disciplinary action.
"All of the data shows that the safest place for children is inside a school and we’re working with our school leaders to ensure they are fully prepared to welcome back students and staff safely in-person on Monday," a DOE spokesperson told WNBC. "We have robust measures in place to immediately address any staffing issues to keep our doors open for the hundreds of thousands of children and families who rely on schools as a lifeline every day.”
Mayor Eric Adams and schools Chancellor David Banks have made it clear they want schools to remain open.
On NY1 Monday night, Banks said a new COVID-19 command center will help address any staffing shortages, and he said schools are a lifeline for many families.
“The easiest thing to do is to say we’re going to close,” Banks said, adding that there’s been a “very significant return” to classrooms, with over 600,000 students back at school Monday.
But it was a rocky start to 2022 for some students. At Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, students were sent to the auditorium to be watched over by substitutes. And in Queens, none of 15 requests a school made for substitute teachers were fulfilled.
The United Federation of Teachers had asked Adams to postpone in-person learning for a week to assess potential staffing shortages given the spike in COVID-19 cases. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said Monday that the union remains concerned about staffing.
"This is going to be a very, very challenging week," he said at a news conference.
Mulgrew said the feasibility of using administrative staff members to fill in for absent teachers depends on factors such as how many teachers are out.
"There's no one-size-fits-all answer," he said.
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