Wednesday, September 23, 2020

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENEST SAYS DOE-UFT VENTILATION REPORTS "ARE FOR SHIT"

 The tweet below was at NY BATS Twitter yesterday. The tweet cites a Gothamist piece from September 13 that I had not seen until today.


Monona Rossol is an industrial hygienist. She is cited in the Gothamist article:

Rossol bluntly asserted that the school ventilation reports released by the city Department of Education and United Federation of Teachers union "are for shit" because they fail to provide specific information when it comes to proper ventilation, offering only vague responses. She contends the standards DOE inspectors follow to determine air quality, as outlined by the American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers [ASHRAE], are inadequate.

"They say, 'Well, you know, all you need is a little open window, a little fresh air, and people will survive' and that's very true" in most cases, said Rossol. "But they won't survive this bug because this bug is a contaminant that is very small and is created in the space. So if you recirculate the air...you're just running the damn stuff around the building. It's just a really bad system; we have to literally walk away from the ASHRAE standard."

The Gothamist map of COVID-19 cases in NYC schools continues to add more buildings. My understanding is it has passed the century mark. 

If your school or a school you know of has a case or more of COVID-19 that the DOE is trying to sweep under the rug, get the information to us and we will forward it to a reporter who asked us if we have any such reports. We will keep your name confidential. iceuft@gmail.com is our email.

I haven't heard of as many teacher protests this week. Have people just resigned themselves that there is nothing they can do or are they lacking any time due to some of the crazy demands of remote teaching from school buildings? If people have just surrendered in the middle of a pandemic, that is very, very sad. The struggle is for your health.


Update: This is from Gothamist today on COVID-19 surges in several NYC neighborhoods:

"At this point in time, these increases could potentially evolve into more widespread community transmission and spread to other neighborhoods unless action is taken," the Department of Health wrote in an email Tuesday evening. "We are monitoring the situation for the need to take further steps in these areas."

The alert from the city comes as the city braces for what some experts say could be a resurgence or "second wave" of the virus as schools reopen, more employees go back to work and restaurants prepare to expand with indoor dining at the end of the month. On top of that, the change in seasons and colder weather is expected to bring more people indoors, adding to the risk of aerosol transmission.

BATS heard from another expert.



19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think there are fewer protests because so many teachers are not going in. They're either getting free accomodations from their principals or are calling in sick. I know a lot of teachers are working remotely from home. I know my school which had a confirmed case has become a ghost town. The protests may start next week when the bulk of kids go back or maybe not. We're just getting tired of not being heard.

James Eterno said...

It is not getting any safer as far as I know.

Anonymous said...

Yes. They have given up. Are going in. And paying dues.

Anonymous said...

I've never been more happy to be fat with high blood pressure.

Anonymous said...

Off topic a little bit....sorry....City announced more furloughs for non union city employees.I hope this applies to those who opted out of the union. Good riddance!

Anonymous said...

I hope you enjoying paying to get covid and have mulgrew tell you it is safe. maybe you should read the article above.

James Eterno said...

I think those opt outers are still covered by the UFT contract. I don't think they will get furloughed but this signals union concessions might possibly be coming soon.

Anonymous said...

He said non union managers. Just because you don't pay dues, doesn't mean you are not in the union. Also the furlough is only for a week for each employee.

Anonymous said...

More, how can we conceed more?

Anonymous said...

How many times does it need to be stress that we need a union. Vote Unity out. If you don't pay dues, you cannot vote.

Anonymous said...

Gothamist:
"Absolutely Inundated": Teachers Say Demands Of Remote Learning Are Overwhelming NYC DOE Tech Support
BY DAVID CRUZ
SEPT. 23, 2020 12:58 P.M.

jp said...

Who is the sucker? The guy paying triple dues on 10/15 and $1800 for the year who gets walked into a petri dish by the uft pres...Oh, the uft pres actually doesn't go into that petri dish...Or the guy who pays nothing and get sthe same lack of service and who has the balls to not go into infected builgings?

Anonymous said...

Possible UFT concessions to city—delay in final retro pay in October , freeze on salary step raises, maybe working on certain holidays to make up lost instructional time, medical/health revisions—and who knows what else—furloughs, layoffs?

Anonymous said...

Luckily I'm quitting after the last payment next month.

What percent did mulgrew get in last election? 90%? Comnplain about me opting out? Funny.

Address this from above...
Who is the sucker? The guy paying triple dues on 10/15 and $1800 for the year who gets walked into a petri dish by the uft pres...Oh, the uft pres actually doesn't go into that petri dish...Or the guy who pays nothing and get sthe same lack of service and who has the balls to not go into infected builgings?

Anonymous said...

I would think the Retro is already set because don't they make the paychecks a month in advance? I'm sure if we weren't getting them, we would know by now. I don't see the big deal of letting go of some teachers that are new. There are way too many teachers in the system pre-pandemic anyway.

Anonymous said...

So, they are not paying workers for 5 days but hiring 10,000 teachers.

Anonymous said...

Have the dues payers asked mulgrew about the spring break money he promised after they hire 10,000 teachers while they layoff 9,000 teachers and they furlogh everyone else?

Anonymous said...

rbe
@perdidostschool
·
5m
Teachers already were "furloughed." We worked spring break without any pay.

Anonymous said...

@10:36 PM - When furloughed you don't work; we worked during Spring Break.