GETTING SHOT DOWN
Bid to block DOE nixed
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has rejected a push to block the city’s vaccination mandate for all Department of Education employees.
In an 11th-hour bid Thursday, four city teachers opposed to the jab requirement petitioned the Bronxborn jurist to intervene.
But Sotomayor rejected their request Friday afternoon and cleared the way for the city to enforce the mandate beginning Monday morning.
The DOE said that at least 90 percent of its 148,000 staffers — and roughly 93 percent of 78,000 classroom teachers — have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday.
Only 500 religious or medical exemptions were awarded, the DOE said.
While the city set a deadline for the end of the workday, DOE employees who present a vaccine card Monday morning will be allowed to work in their schools.
“Vaccination mandates work and ours will help keep our schools safe and healthy,” said DOE spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon.
Still, with upwards of 15,000 DOE workers facing removal from payroll, the city principals union warned of staffing challenges next week.
“Though this additional week has been helpful, we still have concerns about staffing at some schools, particularly regarding safety agents and paraprofessionals,” principals-union chief Mark Cannizzaro said in a statement.
The city has argued that the vaccine requirement will safeguard against coronavirus outbreaks and curb school disruptions.
Objectors asserted that the mandate infringed on their rights.
Teachers and other DOE staffers who decline the vaccine can either take a year off without pay or exit the department with a severance package.
Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter have asserted that ample auxiliary staffers can address staffing needs as they arise.
The DOE said it was incentivizing substitute applicants with additional pay.
“There are support systems in place to ensure schools have the staff they need to take care of their students, including 9,000 vaccinated substitute teachers, 5,000 vaccinated substitute paraprofessionals, qualified Central staff who can be redeployed and a new flexible funding allocation for schools to hire additional employees,” the DOE said Friday.