Unvaccinated And Masked Students No Longer Have To Quarantine As COVID Testing Becomes Weekly In NYC Schools

Chicago IL

20 September, 2021

2:06 PM

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By Amy Zimmer Christina Veiga and Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat Chicago: After just one week of school, New York City will make a significant change to its COVID quarantine and testing policies. Unvaccinated students who are masked and follow the social distancing guidelines of three feet will no longer have to quarantine if they are a close contact of a positive student, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. The new rule will start on Sept. 27, which is when the vaccine mandate for teachers takes effect. COVID testing will ramp up to weekly, from bi-weekly, at all elementary, middle and high schools. Still, only 10% of unvaccinated students whose families consent to testing will get swabbed. De Blasio said the changes were prompted by the numbers of students quarantining just days into the school year, and that new police "will allow more kids to safely remain in the classroom." "We saw enough quarantining that we thought this is something we want to get ahead of and make sure that only those who really need to quarantine are quarantining," de Blasio said. The new policies come on the heels of news that the Pfizer vaccine is effective for children ages 5 to 11. De Blasio said he expects "huge numbers of parents," to seek the shots for their children and called on health regulators to give their quick approval for use. The change in the quarantine and testing rules reflect the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York City had started out this school year with a more conservative policy, closing entire classrooms of elementary school students for 10 days if one person tested positive for the coronavirus. A more complicated approach was taken for middle and high school: vaccinated students without symptoms would be allowed to remain in class while those who weren't vaccinated would have to quarantine for 10 days unless they got a negative test result and could return earlier. Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, commissioner of the city's health department, said that the ramped up testing allows the city to "bring a scalpel" to the quarantine policy. Before the change, many worried parents and teachers were skeptical that the level of testing happening in schools — which was less than what the CDC recommends — was enough to keep students safe. "Taken together, this allows us to strike the balance of both keeping kids safe while ensuring that kids remain in school," Chokshi said. The plan to ramp up testing comes less than 24 hours after the city's teacher union called for more frequent testing of all students under 12 years old, who are currently ineligible to be vaccinated. Unvaccinated staff members are currently required to show proof of a negative test weekly. The vaccination mandate, however, is being challenged in court by the city's municipal labor unions. In the week since school opened to nearly 1 million students, 592 students and 384 staff have tested positive for COVID-19, city data show. Those cases have resulted in 445 full classroom closures and 326 partial classroom closures, in which vaccinated students are allowed to continue learning in person even if they were exposed and as long as they are not feeling sick. There are roughly 65,000 classrooms in city-run schools and city-funded early childhood education centers. Over the weekend, city officials shut down P.S. 79, a Manhattan school for children with disabilities, after at least 16 staff members tested positive and officials found evidence of widespread transmission in the building. It was the first full-school closure since the school year started. The changes in quarantine rules announced Monday will likely lead to fewer quarantines, a move that is in line with federal guidance but which is also likely to draw concerns from educators and families about the risks of transmission in classrooms that are at full capacity. At the same time, many families had criticized the city for having more stringent quarantine measures than CDC guidance called for and worried it would lead to many children sitting home. It could also make instruction more difficult when students are sent home. The city's policy calls for elementary school students to receive live remote instruction when an entire class is quarantined. The new quarantine policy makes it more likely, however, that only some students are sent home. In those cases, and in middle and high schools, students are supposed to receive support from teachers in the form of "office hours," where they can log on to ask questions or for more intensive help, like small-group instruction. Office hours might be difficult for younger students to navigate, though, and fewer elementary schoolers may end up receiving synchronous instruction while they're quarantined. "We'll continue to provide alternative instruction for any kids who need to go home," de Blasio said. Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter emphasized that more students will be able to continue to learn in classrooms under the new policy. "It is so important that our school communities remain whole, when possible," she said. "Allowing vaccinated students to stay in school allows for the continuity of in-person instruction." This story is breaking. Please check back for updates. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.