Over a million New York City students and teachers are still unsure of when and how they might return to school this fall. Their classrooms are capsules of those panicked final days in March, when schools abruptly shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
As a parent, it feels impossible to keep up with the politicized debate over reopening schools. I wanted to bring the focus back to the classrooms and the voices of the people that occupy them, who care for and educate our children. In July, I visited schools around the city to photograph the spaces that children like mine abruptly left.
“It feels like walking into Pompeii — everything frozen at a precise time.” Said Larry Donovan, the Head of School at the Speyer School. “There was a great sense of urgency, and we had to be nimble. We had kids grab their personal belongings from classrooms, lockers, and cubbies, and tried to get computers and iPads into the students’ hands, too.”
Overnight, principals and administrators had to negotiate between anxious parents, city officials and teachers. They were forced to become experts in personal protection equipment, conduct health screenings, and support students through loss and grief.
At P.S./M.S. 5 public school in the South Bronx, Principal Danielle Keane was asked to visit a young student, after her mother died from Covid-19.
“Do you know what passed means?” Principal Keane remembers asking the girl.
“Well, my brothers are crying,” she said, “so it can’t be good.”
“It means Mommy died.” Ms. Keane said, her voice breaking as she told me the story. “Never in a million years could I have imagined that was a role I’d be taking on as a principal. Schools are central to the community — we’re the first call.”
As infections continue to spike nationwide, President Trump threatened to cut federal funding for districts that defied his demand to resume classes in person. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos claimed that children are “stoppers” of the virus, despite health officials saying there’s no evidence of that. Public health and the well being of our children appear to run a distant second to getting the economy moving.
But at the schools I visited, the administrators are working on the practical issues and facing an uncertain future.
“The pandemic has, by a long shot, been the greatest challenge of my career,” said Bo Lauder, who has been the head of school at Friends Seminary for the past 18 years. “We’ve never encountered a situation like this, with details changing almost daily, and serious danger to our community’s health seemingly lurking around every corner.”
Educators are about to be thrust into yet another role — navigating the nation’s school systems through uncharted waters as we go about one of the largest experiments in human history: How to reopen safely?
“This was an epicenter of the virus. We have a lot of teachers that lost family and got sick themselves, and they’re scared to death to come back,” said Principal Keane. “I basically cried at my budget meeting on Friday — I’ve got teacher salaries and that’s pretty much it. I keep asking where the tape is for the floor, to measure six feet, but it’s not here. We might have to furlough cleaning staff though we only have two now. We only have one nurse. We need more of these people, not less.”
At schools throughout the New York City, preparations are taking place around the clock. Classrooms are being mapped out for social distancing; ventilation systems are being reconfigured; windows are being retrofitted to open; in upper grades, students will be cycled between in-person classes and distance learning. At public schools, entire buildings have been deep cleaned, with custodians working throughout the pandemic and the summer break.
Administrators work on strategies and multiple alternate approaches, all while trying to communicate plans that change daily to school boards, parents and children. With so little clarity on the virus, the health risk of exposure and the developmental risks of staying at home, it appears that every option will upset as many people as it appeases.
“I spend almost every minute in a state of concern,” said Mr. Lauder. “The only way I can see to err totally on the side of caution is to go all distance learning all the time, but we know that is not good for faculty, students or families.”
In the South Bronx, Principal Keane has taken to parking out of sight behind the building when she comes to work. If the neighborhood kids see her car out front they try to come to school.
“It turns out the one place they didn’t think they wanted to be,” she said, “is the place they want to be more than anywhere else.”
Ashley Gilbertson (@AshGilbertson) is a member of the VII Photo agency.
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