the sttaff of the Ridgewood blog
Statement from the Ridgewood Education Association August 29, 2020:
The Board of Education is responsible for the health and safety of the staff and students of the Ridgewood Public School System. Teachers and secretaries have told the Board they do not believe their buildings are safe and yesterday many staff members submitted specific questions – not comments – to the Ridgewood Board of Education. These were specific health and safety questions that we have already asked our principals. Our principals don’t know the answers. We had hoped that the Board would have asked those questions on our behalf yesterday. Instead they chose to ignore them and not have them even read aloud. This public disregard for our concerns regarding the health and safety of staff and students gives us less confidence in our District’s reopen plan and has left us now with new questions for the Board. It is our hope that these questions will be addressed at their next meeting on Monday.
● Yesterday they were told that our ventilation system is not capable of using the level of MERV filter recommended by the CDC. Is the Board concerned with our current level of air filtration? Learning of this deficiency one could have expected a follow up question about what additional measures would be taken to make sure the air quality of our classrooms are as safe as possible. We heard no such follow up. This is vitally important to us as some staff will be exposed to hundreds of students. A high school teacher will work in a building with 1000 people at a time. On average a teacher will be directly exposed to 36 students assigned to them each day. Multiply that number by 4 since we have a four day schedule. Then add in the fact that staff and students will have four classes a day, meaning 1000 people moving quickly through narrow hallways. Since many teachers do not have a dedicated classroom they will be moving with the students. The level of exposure is then magnified exponentially when one factors in who each of those students came in contact with before they enter a classroom. Does the Board understand this health risk without proper ventilation?
● Yesterday we learned that our ventilation system is not inspected by outside contractors. Can they tell us with certainty that, in the middle of a pandemic, our ventilation systems work properly?
● Why do they think it is safe to place over 50 students in one room at the High School?
● Why do they think it is safe to place students and staff who are showing signs of Covid-19 in an unventilated hallway or closet?
● Yesterday they were told that some of our school nurses have not received their orders for PPE. Why do they think this is acceptable?
● Do they think it is safe to have staff return without any training on the use of PPE, cleaning, or other safety measures that could be taken to lessen the health risks in our buildings? In addition we have not been trained in how to teach the students in front of
us, virtual hybrid students, and all virtual students – all at the same time. When will that happen?
● Yesterday they were told that protective plexiglass has not arrived yet. If it was ordered to keep staff and students safe how are we safe if we don’t have this protection?
● Right now there is no policy for the District to notify the community if someone tests positive for Covid-19 in one of our schools. Does the Board agree that the community does not have the right to know this information?
● We learned yesterday that 1116 students have opted not to return for in-person instruction. That number represents 20% of our student population. Our largest elementary school this year will be a fully remote school. Why do these numbers not give the Board pause? Has the Board reached out to any of these parents to find out why they feel it is unwise for their children to return to in-person instruction?
The position of the REA is that our buildings can be made safe for the return of staff and students, we just need more time to do so. Surrounding districts like Fair Lawn, Wyckoff, and Ramapo-Indian Hills have come to the same conclusion and have decided to take a few weeks to make their reopen safer. We ask for the same level of care and regard for Ridgewood’s students and staff.
Yeah, the CDC does not recommend MERV filters rated 13 or higher for schools. They do for hospitals which by their nature are full of sick people. Retrofitting our old schools with new HVAC systems that can handle MERV 13 filters would take months and months, not to mention millions and millions.
When educational institutions reopen after the coronavirus outbreak, ASHRAE recommends a portable HEPA and UV air cleaner for each classroom, with at least two air rotations per hour. But no mention of that potential solution from the REA or NJEA?
Here’s the latest CDC guidance:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html
Translation: “They don’t want to go back and teach!”
Put up tents Up on all school fields.
Bring in fans and heaters, just a thought
My kids want to go back to school. The problem what’s going to happen if we start getting positive Covid throughout the school then what’s going to happen. And if someone get sick or dies who is responsible. Especially if someone doesn’t have insurance.
It’s all because of the election. Orders are firmly out from the DNC to resist any kinds of reopenings, be in schools or businesses. It’s the only chance they have of winning, by having their fraud-by-mail scheme. If too much stuff reopens, their argument against traditional voting loses any sense of validity. Fuck your kids education. Fuck family-run businesses. Got to win at any cost.
It’s a backdoor way of those who are going to benefit from the 59M referendum. Don’t forget they are ALL part of the same one vote group which was pushing for the referendum.
Maybe that so but if we open up the all schools and we have a large amount of kids getting sick then one. Look what’s going on in Alabama 1200 kids tested positive, the shit is hitting the fan, what do we do do we bring back students let them get sick with very little medicine to go around.
You Get sick.
You Go Home.
You Get Better.
You Come Back.
This is not Rocket Science (nor the black plague)
It’s a virus.
Enough Already.
Correction for Victoria Burpee
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/merv-13-filters-are-also-recommended-in-your-home/67-ac4f7244-41d1-484b-a797-ad91191476df
You’ve referenced an article relying on an April 2003 NIOSH report.
Where are the CDC guidelines for September 2020?
This is nothing more than a red herring.
NJ transmission rates are lower than Alabama
Anon, that report the article references is an April 2003 NIOSH study on Filtration and Air-Cleaning Systems to Protect Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks. Are you saying we’re under biological attack? Asking for a friend.
Nope, still can’t see any CDC guidelines anywhere mandating MERV 13 or higher rated filtration systems for schools reopening this fall. Can you show me where they say that?
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html