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Omicron Update NYC: Hundreds of Brooklyn Tech students stage walkout over COVID cases

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Hundreds of students walkout of Brooklyn school over COVID cases

As many as 200 students walked out of Brooklyn Tech High School Tuesday to demand New York City offer remote learning.

BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- As many as 200 students walked out of Brooklyn Tech High School Tuesday to demand New York City offer remote learning.

The students say the spike in COVID cases after the holiday worries them.

Some say the access to at-home tests has been limited and they are concerned that some teachers and students are still coming to school sick.

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So, they want to be able to choose online learning.

"Having all these children stacked on top of each other especially in schools as large as Brooklyn Tech is not ideal and I think just having that hybrid option would just alleviate the stress and make everything a little bit safer for everyone," Brooklyn Tech High School student Jaida Sahin said.

"I just genuinely do not feel safe in the school building anymore at this point and I think after winter break, we cross the line from in-person being better to remote and hybrid being better," student Rommy Sasson said.

Lauren Glassberg has the latest on COVID-19 numbers in New York are trending downward, for the first time in weeks.

Brooklyn Tech students say that they hope other schools will follow their lead and stage walkouts, so opinions of students can be heard by city officials.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks says he's inviting student leaders from any schools that participated in Tuesday's walkout "to discuss their concerns and ideas with him."

"We understand the concerns of our school communities during this crisis and wholeheartedly support civic engagement among New York City students. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our school communities, and we've doubled in-school testing and deployed 5 million rapid tests to quickly identify cases, stop transmission, and safely keep schools open. Student voice is key, and we'll continue to listen to and work closely with those most impacted by our decisions - our students," a Department of Education spokesperson said in a statement.