“Our schools are overcrowded.” Yonkers struggles with plan to get kids back in class

The president of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers tells News 12 they have concerns of overcrowding.

News 12 Staff

Jul 21, 2020, 4:29 PM

Updated 1,546 days ago

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Hudson Valley education officials are currently working on a plan to get kids back in the classroom this September.
The president of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers tells News 12 that there are a number of different issues they are struggling with, including concerns of overcrowding.
"Our schools are overcrowded. At the elementary level, we are approximately 4,000 students over capacity. We currently have classrooms right outside boiler rooms, we have rooms with no windows and no ventilation, some schools have no air conditioning, some of our windows don’t open…. So how do we do safely distance? In order to do that, we are going to have to get students and classes out of those rooms that don’t have ventilation and into rooms that do. So we have to take a long hard look at scheduling," says Samantha Rosado-Ciriello, president of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers.

The deadline for schools to submit their reopening plans to the state is July 31.