Important update on Sandy re closed & relocated schools!

UPDATE on Sunday evening 8:30 PM:    

The ENTIRE list of 101 schools that will be closed tomorrow Monday  Nov. 5 is here:  http://shar.es/G1oLa This is either because these schools are serving as shelters, are damaged from the storm, or still lack power.

• There are eight HS buildings that are currently serving as shelters where students should NOT come to school until at least Wednesday, when hopefully the shelters will have moved. Brooklyn Technical HS,  John Jay Educational Campus and FDR HS in Brooklyn; Graphic Communication Arts and George Washington Educational Campus in Manhattan; Hillcrest High School in Queens; and Tottenville HS and Susan E. Wagner HS in Staten Island. Check the  DOE page here for updates.

• The list of schools that are seriously damaged and their relocation sites is here: http://shar.es/G1WcN   Parents: please DO NOT send your child to any of these schools until Wednesday.  

• There is also a handy school finder on the DOE webpage where you can search your child’s school and see its status: http://shar.es/G11sE  

•  Many other schools are expected to be without heat on Monday. Bloomberg has said that you should send your children to school with a sweater, just in case. 
•   Subway restorations and disruptions are here.

• Transportation and school busing may be a problem; I am posting below what is now on the DOE website about this issue.  
• Tuesday is Election Day; there is NO school for any public school student.  A list of polling sites which have moved to new locations due to storm damage is here.
• For information concerning location of programs and options for students within District 75, call 212-802-1503.   

 Transportation for Staff and Students

• While every effort will be made to meet limited-time travel mandates, traffic jams and long rides are likely. Due to temporary arrangements resulting from Hurricane Sandy, please be aware of the following considerations for students with specialized transportation needs:
  
• There may be limited availability of mandated support staff such as paraprofessionals, attendants, and nurses
• Direct communications with buses will be limited
• It is possible that mandated medical equipment will be unavailable on some routes
• Schools should advise parents to expect extended call-hold times for OPT and customer service
• In cases where streets are impassable, pick-up locations may be changed
• High school students will receive free MetroCards so they can travel to their new school locations.

Principals should refer families with transportation issues to the OPT hotline: 718-392-8855 

___

  Earlier message from Saturday Nov. 3:

I hope you are all recovering from Hurricane Sandy; I just got my power restored last night here in Greenwich Village, though there are still nearly one quarter of a million NYC residents and more than a million households in the tri-state area without power or heat. 

Immeasurable damage has occurred to people’s homes and even more tragically, lives have been lost, but I wanted to update you on new developments as regards the NYC public schools:

•  On Monday, most NYC public schools will resume classes.  However, there are 57 schools that have suffered “severe damage” according to the DOE, and have to be re-located to other buildings.  The list of schools that will be closed until further notice and their re-location sites are posted as an spreadsheet on the DOE website here.  For those who cannot access spreadsheets, I have also posted this list on my website as a word doc  and as a pdf.

• However, students in the closed schools will NOT be attending classes until Wednesday, to make sure that their new buildings are ready for them.   DOE says they will provide updates early in the week about transportation; teachers are expected at these new sites on Monday and Tuesday. 

All public schools are closed for classes on Tuesday for Election Day, as previously planned.

• There is another, even longer list of schools that as of last night (Friday) lacked power; many of them have had their power restored already but many have not. 

The list of schools that were undamaged but lacked power as of Friday (as a spreadsheet) is posted here.   As a pdf on my website, it is here.  Check back on the DOE website over the weekend for updates as to which of these schools may NOT be reopening on Monday.

 

I dearly hope you and your family members and loved ones are all safe and sound.  Please feel free to email me if you have questions about this, and I will try to find out answers for you.

Update on plans for Monday and tragic losses suffered due to Hurricane Sandy

Jessie and her dog, Max

After a week of disruption due to Hurricane Sandy, NYC public schools are due to restart on Monday.  Yet according to Schoolbook, forty-four school buildings were severely damaged, and students at those schools will likely be relocated to other buildings. The DOE is supposed to announce which schools will NOT re-open and the re-location sites, hopefully soon.  Check back here or go schools.nyc.gov for further updates.

Meanwhile, many families across NYC have suffered due to the storm.  One of the worst tragedies were the deaths of Jessie Streich-Kest and her friend Jacob Vogelman, who were struck by a falling tree while walking Jessie’s dog on Monday night in Ditmas Park.  Jessie was a teaching fellow at Bushwick School for Social Justice; Jacob a theater design student at Brooklyn College. Many of us know and love Jessie's mom, Fran Streich, who has done terrific work organizing and providing support to public school parents in Brooklyn and Manhattan.  Her dad, Jon Kest, is the highly respected head of NY Communities for Change, formerly ACORN, an organization that has spent years fighting for quality public schools.

Jacob

Below is information about the funerals and memorials for Jessie and Jacob, today through Tuesday.  The Streich-Kest family has asked that in remembrance of Jessie, people donate to the Jessie Streich-Kest fund, with tax-deductible contributions going to the Sean Casey Animal Rescue Center, a cause that she cared deeply about.  For Jacob, please give to Learning Ally: Making Reading Accessible for All, an organization that provides recorded books for the blind and dyslexic.

Congregation Beth Elohim at 274 Garfield Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (corner of 8th Avenue in Park Slope).will be hosting the funeral service for Jacob Vogelman on Friday, November 2 at 9:30am. Burial will follow at Mount Lebanon Cemetery. The family will sit Shiva at the home of Marcia Sikowitz, 443 1st Street, 3R, Brooklyn. Shiva hours are Friday 2-5 pm; Saturday 6-9 pm; Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 10am-2 pm and 5pm-8pm.

Jessie Streich-Kest’s service will be held on Sunday at 1pm at Congregation Beth Elohim as well. The family will sit Shiva at the home of Jon Kest and Fran Streich, 99 Argyle Road, Brooklyn, NY 11226 (between Church Avenue and Albermarle Road). Shiva hours are Sunday November 7-9 PM; and Monday 6-9 PM. The Shiva will be offered with support from members of Kolot Chayeinu: Voices of Our Lives.

More on Jacob and Jessie and their too-short lives here: Brad Lander on the Huffington Post,  Ditmas Park Corner, NY Communities, Daily News, DNA Info, NY Times, FaceBookpage in honor of Jessie