Postpone NYC In-Person School Reopening, Nurses Union Says

NEW YORK CITY — A prominent nurses union urged officials to postpone in-person learning for New York City schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Reopening schools in the city poses too many risks to students, parents and teachers, the New York State Nurses Association's board said in a statement released Tuesday.

"Bringing people together in enclosed spaces, without the robust public health infrastructure nurses have called for since the beginning of this pandemic, will undoubtedly increase the spread of the virus," the union's statement reads. "Opening in-person schooling could easily erase the progress New York has made, and spark a resurgence of COVID-19."

The union's stance comes amid escalating preparations in New York City for students to return to in-person classes. About 700,000 students are expected to return to school buildings, along with 85 percent of their teachers, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

But de Blasio faced tough questions Tuesday from Bloomberg reporter Henry Goldman and NBC4 reporter Andrew Siff about why parents were asked to opt out of in-person, "blended learning" rather than into it. More parents — 264,000 — actively chose remote learning because blended learning was the default choice, they noted.

"If you're offered an opportunity to opt out, they don't take it — that's a conscious act," de Blasio responded.

The exchange underscored concerns by some parents, teachers and unions that New York City is barreling unprepared toward reopening schools. As it stands, New York City is the only school district among the five largest in the country that plans to return to in-person classes in the fall.

The nurses union noted that fact in their statement and argued New York City, while its infection rate remains low, still faces risks. Minority communities still face higher infection rates, the city's testing and tracing infrastructure is "overstretched" and funding shortfalls remain, the statement argues.

"New York cannot remain a sheltered island in a national storm surge of COVID-19," the statement reads. "Pandemics don’t work that way, especially as many New Yorkers have travelled extensively throughout the summer."

Left unstated by the union is the fact New York City's school system could face a shortage of school nurses, which was recently reported by the Wall Street Journal.

De Blasio on Monday acknowledged it's a "real concern" every building might not have a school nurse. He promised a potential solution in the coming days.

"I think there's a number of ways we can get the personnel we need," he said. "And on top of having the medical personnel available to each school, we're going to have a very strong presence in our schools, from the Test and Trace Corps as well, to make sure in the event of any case that there's immediate follow-up at the school level."