BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Thousands of students began their first day of in-person learning at Buffalo Public Schools on Monday, though plenty of uncertainty still remains for the future of in-classroom learning at the largest school district in the region and the second largest in New York State.
"This is the footprint that we will one day, hopefully not too far in the future, bring over 1,000 people back here on this footprint," Superintendent Kriner Cash said Monday outside Frank Sedita Academy. "This is essentially an engineering challenge to bring all our children and staff onto the very, very different footprints of over 60 schools across this district."
Students between Pre-Kindergarten and second grade, high school seniors, and up to 100 eligible students with high needs are eligible to return to their school under a hybrid model. Cash estimates up to 7,000 students are eligible to return to school, though only half of them will be in at that time. The remainder of students, those between grades 3 and 11, remain at home under remote learning.
When asked when the remainder of students will return to class, Cash said he did not know.
"Every school is different and has a different footprint," Cash said. "We are averaging 205 to 255 people in our schools across the district, on average...We need to get in, see how many come back, see how many we can fit on these footprints...We're getting close to max capacity now. I don't know and won't know until mid-February who I can bring back and when. It is the engineering problem that is fluid. It is continuous. We will keep working it and working it and try to bring as many students as we can safely back and that we can afford to do."
The reopening of schools began despite the early stages of a lawsuit brought by the Buffalo Teacher's Federation. The lawsuit filed Friday aims to prevent teachers from returning to the classroom because of safety concerns.
"There can be no doubt that (the district) knew their school facilities were not safe," teachers said in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also includes statements from a physical education teacher at Frank Sedita School, who must teach her students despite a high-risk pregnancy. She claims the district has no plan for ensuring her safety and fears for her health and the health of her unborn child.
In new court documents filed Monday, the district claims the teacher's unions claims are "highly speculative" and "patently insufficient".
"(The union) has failed to produce any medical or scientific evidence or proof to support its claims that its members will suffer immediate and irreprarable injury by returning to their regular work sites within school buildings," district lawyers said. "(The district) have engaged in substantial and ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its school buildings."
When asked about the teacher's lawsuit Monday, Dr. Cash said most teachers want to be back.
"There's just a handful that listen to the leadership because the leadership has been around for 45 years and this what the playbook has been forever," Cash said. "We knew that and anticipated that. That's fine. Let it go ahead and play out in the courts. My expectation is that we are coming to school or there will be penalties for staff."
While district leaders are not sure when the remainder of students will return, the district's medical director, Dr. Dennis Kuo, said it is safe for those students to return to school.
"I think it is absolutely safe from a health standpoint," Dr. Kuo said. "The key here is that the community drives any risk in the school and when the community numbers are low and going down, it is safe. We know the risk of transmission in school is very, very low, particularly when the community transmission is under control and we have the safety protocols including the distancing and the sanitation and also the engineering and behavior controls. All these things we put in place in Buffalo Public Schools. When those are in place, we know that school transmission is extraordinarily rare. Certainly we have chosen to bring back a smaller number of students for the time being and we'll see how it goes. We'll continuously follow it but it is absolutely safe."
