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rocky road back

November 5, 2012

City anticipating turmoil as most students resume classes today

by Philissa Cramer, at 7:19 am

The auditorium at P.S. 195 in Manhattan Beach was flooded last Wednesday. Today, the school opened its doors to students and Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Walcott plan to visit and welcome them back.

As more than 90 percent of city schoolchildren head to school today for their first day back after Hurricane Sandy, some with extra sweaters to ward off cold, Department of Education officials will have their sights set on the 102 schools that still cannot reopen.

The number of school buildings unable to accommodate students fluctuated over the weekend, but by Sunday night, department officials determined that 57 schools were so damaged that they must be relocated and 29 schools still lacked power, down from nearly 200 at the beginning of the weekend. Another 16 schools are housed in eight buildings that have for the last week been used as shelters for New Yorkers displaced from homes and hospitals by the storm.

The roughly 73,000 students who attend the schools are expected to return to classes on Wednesday, after the entire city takes another break for Election Day on Tuesday, when many schools will function as polling centers.

In the next two days, officials aim for power to be restored to schools that lack it, shelters  closed and cleaned, and damaged schools shoehorned into other locations. But Mayor Bloomberg said the transition back to school — coming after students and teachers alike have had their homes and neighborhoods disruption — would likely be rocky.

“We just can’t predict who’s going to show up where … and we’re obviously going to have problems,” Bloomberg said during a news conference on Sunday. “We’ll just have to bear it, but we’ll have a day between the first day and the second day of school – namely Tuesday – and we’re going to use that day to straighten things out to the best of our ability.”

The sudden relocation of 57 schools whose buildings suffered flooding, oil spills, and fires as a result of the storm has posed the most daunting logistical challenge. Some schools are moving miles away from their original locations, and others are being divided over two or three different sites, according to the department’s plans, which changed over the weekend with conditions on the ground.

“We don’t have a very large group of empty seats, but we think … by moving things around in these schools we’re able to accommodate everyone,” Bloomberg said on Sunday.

In one extreme example, John Dewey High School, which suffered an electrical fire Tuesday morning, is sending its ninth- and 10th-graders to Sheepshead Bay High School, 11th-graders to James Madison High School, and 12th-graders to the Lafayette High School campus. While Lafayette is very close to Dewey, the other two schools are about three miles away — and more than a mile away from each other — in an arrangement that some teachers said would make it impossible to continue with students’ existing class schedules.

Other schools are moving part and parcel to another building, some as far as eight miles away. But their plans are no less complex. Principals in buildings that are getting surprise co-locations are meeting tomorrow with their new neighbors to devise space-sharing schedules and strategies, while teachers in the relocated schools will use the day to set up their new classrooms.

Letting families know that their children would have one more day off was a steep challenge for the department. More than 1 million “robocalls” had gone out to families by Sunday, officials said, and the city placed full-page ads in multiple major newspapers today announcing the changes.

But Bloomberg said on Sunday that he expected some families to make their way to school this morning, only to find it dark and shuttered.

“I’m sure we’re going to miss some people,” he said. “That’s just the reality of doing something we have to do quickly.”

He added, “It is complex and people are going to make mistakes. People are going to be misinformed. We know that.”

Some families could be misinformed in the other direction. Students at some schools where power was restored over the weekend got calls telling them that they would not have classes today even though their schools are open for business. At Harvest Collegiate High School and the Beacon School, both in Manhattan, school officials reached out to students to let them know they should attend today after learning that some had been told to stay home.

Bloomberg also emphasized that reengineering bus routes for the tens of thousands of students who will be relocated would likely not come without problems, and that downed trees and many news drivers could complicate routes even for students whose schools emerged unscathed. As temperatures dipped near freezing, he warned that some students could be left out in the cold.

“I’m sure there’s going to be cases where just the driver made a mistake on the route and we didn’t get to everybody,” Bloomberg said. “We’re trying to do our best, and I want to support them and give them all the tools that we possibly can, knowing that it’s not going to be perfect.”

Even in schools that are reopening on schedule, conditions might not be optimal. Three dozen schools are opening with power but no assurance of heat, and Bloomberg said on Sunday that parents should make sure to send their children off today with “extra sweaters.”

But for the most part, the city is viewing the return to school as an important step in the storm recovery process. P.S. 195 in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, is located just a block off the water and suffered severe flooding, a broken boiler system, and loss of power during the storm; last week, a watermark stretched across its front door while mansions a block away had their facades completely ripped away. This afternoon, Bloomberg and Chancellor Dennis Walcott will visit the school to welcome students back to class.

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  • common sense

    What harm would there have been to delay opening til weds? Trains and buses will be overcrowded with long wait times-should children really be expected to navigate that safely?Another day or two to get logistics right makes sense.

  • BloombergMustGo

    Somebody has to try and explain to Bloomberg/Walcott that just demanding that people show up to work is not going to make the issue of not having gas in their cars go away.  If it is so critical that teachers report to schools to educate and supervise children, then perhaps we should be given some priority in obtaining gasoline to run our cars.  Despite truly impressive efforts at carpooling, walking, and strategizing some of us will have no alternatives for transportation. 
    Two of our teachers walked almost 3 miles to work this morning and face the same trip home tonight.  With another storm coming that is a scary prospect.  Another group had 6 people in a Prius.  How about some answers Mr. Bloomberg?

  • Mr. Flerporillo

    We left a half hour earlier and took a bus and two trains.  In other words, the same trip I take every morning with my kids, before I start my commute to work. 

  • Koozy14

    And one of my staff members had her house washed away, and will not be in at all.  That’s the problem.  Those who have not suffered, or able to overcome their suffering,  are disconnected and believe it’s business as usual for everyone else.  It’s not.  Some people need a little more time and common sense from the rest of us.

  • Larry Littlefield

    You do understand that millions of people who presumably matter less are in the same situation, and do not get paid if they do not work?  Even if they cannot work because there is no school. 

    “Those who have not suffered, or able to overcome their suffering,  are disconnected and believe it’s business as usual for everyone else.”

    You got that right.  And not just with regard to hurricane Sandy.  It’s society wide and all the time, and probably less now than average.

  • http://twitter.com/PFSANY Mary Conway-Spiegel

    It’s easy to sit wherever we are all individually sitting and be critical of this recovery process. But here’s the thing: thousands of our youth deal with and are recovering from their own childhood challenges/traumas, as are their parents…Daily…Pre Sandy and now Post Sandy. Read this article and know the added layer of challenge/trauma – just one more tremendous, impossible hurdle between a student and his/her education. The exact second this storm was on the radar…that’s when the planning for our kids should’ve started – I hope it did.

  • Mr. Flerporillo

    Maybe a better solution would be to excuse people who’ve had their houses washed away rather than continue to keep the entire school system closed.  As you say, common sense.  

  • BloombergMustGo

    You do understand that the only one who presumed anything is you.  NO ONE should be FORCED to go to work at this time or penalized if they don’t.  Since the Governor and Mayor cannot repair all the damage that has been done, they should not be issuing orders to people who do not have the resources to comply.
    Large companies can easily absorb a few days of lost business into their bloated profits, small businesses can be reimbursed by the government (stop paying for foreign wars and foreign aid when your citizens need help), and priority should be given to providing food and shelter, repairs, restocking food in stores, and delivering fuel, NOT REOPENING THE STOCK MARKET AND RUNNING A MARATHON.

  • Mayor Bloomberg

    sheesh, fine, you can have the rest of the day off.  just stop crying!

  • Koozy14

    I agree. absolutely.  And those schools that are currently serving as shelters for evacuees, they need to stay closed until the evacuees are properly placed.  It makes no sense, common or otherwise,  to have evacuees displace students from classrooms, auditoriums, and cafeterias. 

  • Larry Littlefield

    “NO ONE should be FORCED to go to work at this time or penalized if they don’t.”

    If the businesses you normally patronize don’t serve you, and aren’t the best deal you can find, then you don’t give them your money.  And if you don’t give them their money, they can’t pay their workers.  That’s where the force comes from.

    You can argue that Bloomberg has more options, because the government forces people to pay taxes whether they get services in return or not.  But that just shows the difference.

  • Nycdoenuts

    “What harm would there have been to delay opening til weds?”

    I remember the 9-11 attacks kept this city on it’s back for all of a day (that’s how long transit and the schools were fully closed). This storm kept the city out of commission for an entire week (and counting).

    At some point, we have to work back to normalcy. Each day we don’t work toward that causes harm (just my opinion).

    Now I don’t think anyone should be forced to go back to work. Certainly, public servants enjoy days off with pay (ha-ha Larry Littlefield! Ha-ha) and those of us who’s lives have been turned upside down should take full advantage of those days. But the process of returning to normal is really what’s at issue here. And that process has got to begin as soon as possible.
    Just my opinion.

  • BloombergMustGo

    Dear Mikey,

    If you resigned right now, I would walk two miles to work, teach all day in a building with no electricity or heat and donate $1,000 to the Sandy Relief Fund.
     Deal?

  • BloombergMustGo

    Dear Larry,

    I am so sorry about your illiteracy.  Obviously, you have problems reading and interpreting information.  I could recommend quite a few teachers that could help you with that problem.
    Also, you seem distutbingly obsessed with taxes.  Were you abused by an IRS agent somewhere along the line?
    Anyway, until you drag your sorry butt into a classroom and actually DO the job, your opinion counts for naught.
    Oh, and unlike you, when I patronize a business, I don’t complain about every cent I spend, I don’t expect $2 of product for every $1 I spend, I value a business for more that just the “best deal” I can get, I express my appreciation for their service, I politely discuss any dissatisfaction I may have thereby giving the business owner the chance to correct them before I run around the neighborhood degrading the business, I try and show my appreciation occasionally outside of purchases, I treat the emplyees with respect, I consider them as human beings with lives as opposed to widgets, and I say “thank you” regularly.
    I imagine from your record on this site you are one of those crabby customers who is always loudly complaining, asking for freebies and constantly looking for “deals”, “bargains” or “something extra”.  But that’s just my opinion.

  • BloombergMustGo

    Well, then Bloomberg could not flex his atrophied muscles and play dictator.  Also, as usual, everyone assumes that teachers are sitting home twiddling their thumbs.  Those that had no electricity were struggling to survive, while many of the rest were trying to make some inroads into the piles of work that have overwhelmed them this year.  What many people forget is that in most businesses the company provides the tools to accomplish your job.  As teachers most of our tools , electronic or otherwise, are ours to provide.  It’s really hard to do your computer related work when your home has no electricity.  Unfortunately, you can’t explein that to the students when you return, you must be ready to go as soon as  they show up.  That’s whether you have showered with freezing water, haven’t had a decent meal in a week, or your children have been sitting in the dark for a week.

  • Guest

    How can you split a school up by grades? I teach 9th, 10th, 11th and 12 grades, sometimes in the same class. Are the kids just sitting there?

  • Mr. Flerporillo

    I think it’s far more likely that people assume that teachers have been doing what everyone else has been doing, i.e., that some were struggling with flood conditions, that others were trying to “do their computer work” under difficult or impossible conditions, and that others were indeed twiddling their thumbs.  Your problems are not unique.  Ask around.

  • BloombergMustGo

    Mr. Flerporillo, I’m sure you are exactly correct, that are problems are far from unique.  However, when people like Mr. Littlefield start rasing the flag of “MY TAXES PAY YOUR SALARY SO YOU BETTER JUMP”,  it tends to wear on one’s nerves and patience.  Teachers are people and employees, just like everyone else.  We abide by the contract we agreed to and if schools are closed, we do not appreciate the suggestions that we are somehow benefitting.  We will be held responsible for making sure that students will acquire the knowledge necessary for them to succeed.  At the same time we must deal with whatever issues and difficulties our students have encountered.  Mr. Bloomberg issues edicts but we have to figure out how to make sure a student whose home and family have been disrupted stays on course.  We did not conjure up Sandy to engineer a few days off.  As soon as schools were open the overwhelming majority of teachers reported for duty.  Nobody asked what their home conditions were.  We were expected to report under the ever present aegis of “it’s for the children”.   Fine, but we don’t need to hear about how lazy or lucky we were that our places of business were in turmoil. 
    It’s really getting annoying to have to deal with all this teacher bashing on a daily basis.
    As I’ve said before, if people don;t want to support schools with taxes, shut them down and let them educate their own children. Frankly, I got more respect as a bus boy and a cab driver than I do as a teacher.

  • Larry Littlefield

    I also worked as a bus boy, and believe you exaggerate.  Again, the problem you are complaining about is the same problem everyone else has.

    Now as for the whole problem with Bloomberg and “respect,” all I can say is that it is a phony issue that misses the elephant in the room — the retroactive pension deals and their effect on the budget.  You didn’t hear any of this before 25/55 passed.  And then suddenly you did.

    Why?  Did the UFT decide it had no need to play along with trying to make the schools better once it got the only thing it wanted all along?  Did Bloomberg think he could offset the disaster by yelling at teachers?  I don’t know.  But I can measure the damage to funds available for the classroom, and it’s bad.

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