Assemblyman William Colton (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) says that Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza must be held responsible for their carelessness in NYC school’s safety preparation.  

“All NYC schools officially were closed on March 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 spread. Six months later what are we facing?  Our schools are still in limbo. Children and staff are not safe to go back. We are not ready to reopen our schools safely because neither the Mayor nor the Chancellor took it seriously. It raises a legitimate question, why as soon as schools were closed neither one took an initiative to test schools for the virus and came up with the safety plan in advance for the safe return in September of 2020. It is outrageous that schools are short on cleaning and school supplies,” Colton stated.

“Few weeks before schools were supposed to reopen, de Blasio’s administration decides to conduct tests for the virus and the result is that the fifty-six NYC’s schools were confirmed with positive cases of COVID-19. Four schools in my district P.S. 177 The Marlboro, I.S. 228 David A. Boody, P.S. 97 The Highlawn and I.S. 281 Joseph B. Cavallaro are on the list of positive cases,” Colton continues.  

“We are finding out that these schools are infected with COVID-19. Three of these schools are used by the NYC BOE as voting poll sites on the election days. My understanding is that these schools are not safe to be used for the public. Therefore, I demand answers from the Mayor what will be done, and from the BOE what is their next step to make these schools safe to be used by American citizens on November 3, 2020,” Colton added.