New COVID Tracker Gives Parents Ability To Report Safety Concerns In School

ALBANY – A new way to monitor and report COVID-19 safety concerns in New York State Schools is now available.

The website, NYSUTCovidTracker.org, was launched this week.

Andy Pallotta, the President of New York State United Teachers, says if things like personal protective equipment and social distancing are not being done correctly, they wanted to provide a way for students, parents and teachers to be informed.

“There’s a lot of nervous people, including us, so we want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to have corrective action taken place, and if necessary that schools in a certain district or in a certain region would be closed until it is taken care of,” Pallotta said. “It is for everyone in school, people in the community, too, so staff people in the community that they see an issue, they can report it.”

Pallotta says his group has taken steps to ensure privacy of those reporting possible issues is protected.

He says once a report is received, his office checks with a field rep in the region. If the issue is not being taken care of, they can reach out to the state Department of Health or the Governor’s Office. Once the issue is resolved, the map should be updated to reflect that.

So far locally only one safety report has been filed, at Jamestown High School.