Letter to the Editor

Don’t experiment on my son

By Ryan Lamar, Newburgh
Posted 9/2/21

Dear Board of Education, Remember my son? I asked you to remember his exact words, “Mom, we’re all expecting someone to die”.  Let me tell you what his first 1.5 hours back in …

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Letter to the Editor

Don’t experiment on my son

Posted

Dear Board of Education,
Remember my son? I asked you to remember his exact words, “Mom, we’re all expecting someone to die”.  Let me tell you what his first 1.5 hours back in NFA were like.  My wife had told him they were going in for orientation and he would probably feel better after he was in the school and saw the precautions.  So here is what happened on Wednesday, 8/25/21 at the orientation for 10th graders who have never been in the high school and chose the remote option last year.

My wife walked in-there was no signing in of anyone, remember that fact.  They went to the auditorium.  Ushers spaced the kids every other seat but inexplicably did not tell kids in the back row to space.  That row, which was directly in front of 3 adults at the light board not only never distanced, but two of the kids on the end had no masks on their faces. One of the adults at the light board had his mask pulled down.  At the front of the room the principal spoke.  The man next to him had his mask down the entire time.  Two ushers (students) standing in aisles had their masks down.  When the principal finished talking, my wife reported it.  The principal told her to “calm down” and then said the ushers were students and the man next to him was “waiting to speak”.  She tried another adult (AP?) who went to the stage and told everyone masks should be worn & how to wear them on their faces. The adult sitting behind the light board finally pulled his up, the adult in the front of the room with the mask down had exited.  Ushers pulled up their masks.  Students in the back row did not, no one told them to.  

Teachers then took kids in groups out of the auditorium.  My son was sat in a circle in his group of students and they were  told to pass one marker around for each kid to speak.  One student did not have a mask on in that group.  No one told him to put on his mask the entire time.  We found out later that another parent reported this to a security guard who said he would take care of it.  When that parent checked again the guard told her, “Someone must have taken care of it.” My wife goes to the Q&A session for parents: How will our son take mask breaks? If he is by a door he may be able to open it and take off his mask.  Or a teacher may have a window that opens for him to stand by.

How many students got Covid at NFA last year? Look online to find out.  How will parents be notified if kids are exposed to Covid? The district is working that out.  Parents are told to watch the footage of Tuesday night’s BOE meeting for more information.  My wife leaves the building.  The security guard has his  mask down at the front desk.  My son comes out.  She tries to be bright and asks how it went.  He says he doesn’t want to talk about it.  When she presses he tells her about the kid not wearing a mask in the group.  He is visibly depressed for the remainder of day.  There are other parents who couldn’t be there in the middle of the day-who will look out for their kids?

The following day (yesterday) I called the Acting Superintendent and the County Executive to report what is happening at the high school.  It remains my impression that there is no plan in place to protect my son from getting Covid. I believe the plan at the Superintendent level was not made although it was reported to BOE as if it was and all staff knows what they are doing.  I believe the entire district should have been working on a plan for more than a year and a half and has failed.  I believe the district did not give policies to principals in time to make a plan at building levels and to inform the staff at the building level.  I believe that even at the senior staff level the plan makes no sense. You cannot socially distance OR cohort the students-it is impossible  as just two examples- this is simply a matter of math! I believe principals have reported this multiple times and been ignored. If you go on the district website as of last night it still said masks were a “recommendation” although they were mandated.  I believe the schools are not ready to open.  I believe this district should go remote until you are ready to do so.

Why am I so sure? Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call that there was a positive case of Covid at that very orientation.  I was told because my son is vaccinated nothing needed to happen.  Another parent got a call, that student is also vaccinated and was in the same group as my son.  That parent was told to observe 3-5 days, then try to get a test.  A third parent who never signed up for the event (remember, there was no signing in at the door) was never contacted.  So in one day these are the mitigations not in place at the orientation in front of parents:  no sign in for contact tracing, no mask policy enforced for students or adults, no social distancing beyond an attempt in the auditorium which was abandoned for the last row of students even though only about 1/5 of the auditorium seats were being used, the sharing of an object passed from hand to hand with my son’s whole group who sat in a circle close enough to pass the pen, disparate directions given to parents about the exposure. That is my son’s first experience in school.  And now he is exposed.  Despite being told no action is necessary both my son and my wife are going to be tested today.  If either has Covid I will hold this district responsible.  I ask you again, give us a remote option for our kids and teachers who are willing to do it and let the teachers who want to teach in school teach the in school students. Are you aware that the teachers who had medical accommodations last year and taught remotely will be denied that option because it is not offered to students?  Are you trying to avoid protecting your teachers by not offering a remote option? Why?  Why wouldn’t you want all protected? I’ve heard that the former superintendent told administrators last year that he knew that people were “milking it.” As the husband of a teacher who worked entirely remotely last year let me say that your teachers at home worked twice as many hours for you.  I had a parent stop me last year and tell me his son learned more from her remote class than ever before.  The continued assertion that remote was bad for all is untrue for all.  My son maintained an honors average and had above average attendance.  Admins requesting air HEPA purifiers for classrooms were recently told by your guy handling the ventilation “upgrades” that they do not work.  Please see the CDC links in your own document for parents regarding ventilation which say that they do and should be used in areas of “high risk” which can clearly be interpreted as schools in which you cannot socially distance or cohort, which is every school in this district and every K-5 classroom comprised of little kids who can’t even get the vaccine. Your financial superintendent is refusing to put them in classrooms unless the students or teachers get documentation from doctors and are reviewed by your medical director.  So do they work or not work?  Why are you being so cheap with them?  Where is the 30.3 million that you were most recently given to protect our children? For our community’s sake, close to remote until your schools know the seriousness of this illness and everyone is on the same page as to what the plan is.  Give a remote option so that the kids and teachers who can do it until all are vaccinated are out of the building making room for the ones who have to be in the building to be distances and safe.  The plans were not made by former leadership, it was all powerpoints and PR.  Please, for the love of God don’t experiment on my son and the students and staff in our community. Where is the social and emotional support for my child? He loves school and works hard to maintain high honors. Now he thinks himself, one of his friends, or one of his family members may die because of his school and the district has done nothing but reinforce that idea at the orientation in front of parents.  What will he have to deal with when we are not there? What about the kids of parents who don’t know what is going on right now? My family has given countless hours trying to help plan conservatively and been largely disregarded. What are you doing.  What are you doing?  Act now, please.