NYC school students return to classes after being forced to go virtual to house migrants
Mom Jayne Lipkovich and her daughter Julia Lipkovich speak out against the city using the NYC high school to house migrants
New York City parents are lashing out at city officials after Brooklyn high school students were forced to stay home for virtual learning while the building sheltered migrants.
Mother Jayne Lipkovich told "Fox & Friends" the decision to "prioritize" asylum seekers over city families has been "really upsetting."
"Why does James Madison or any other school, for example, have to bear the burden of the city's migrant crisis?," asked Jayne, who was joined by her daughter, Julia, Thursday.
ERIC ADAMS SAYS NYC IS AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AS HE WARNS OF ANOTHER SURGE OF MIGRANTS FROM TEXAS
Mayor Eric Adams gave a press conference addressing the migrant crisis on Tuesday. (New York City City Hall)
"My child goes through metal detectors every day. [Migrants] were walking in with suitcases. How's that safe afterwards? What about vaccinations? They had to come back completely vaccinated. Were they checking migrants for vaccinations or their background checks when they entered the school?"
Nearly 2,000 migrants being sheltered in a tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field arrived at James Madison High School on Bedford Avenue, forcing students to pivot to remote learning Wednesday.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office said the move was for safety reasons due to incoming storms and potential high winds. According to the New York Daily News, Adams told reporters that it was being done out of an "overabundance of caution."
Illegal migrants evacuated from Floyd Bennett Field arrive at James Madison High School on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City during a storm on Jan. 9, 2024 ( Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Julia discussed how the day went as students logged onto Zoom without teachers showing up.
"I heard that a lot of my teachers emailed us saying that if you have any questions, email us before joining, so they can actually join, too," she explained. "But otherwise just do the assignments and they'll be counted as attendance."
"It's also a day that I could have spent learning, and especially with exams around the corner, I could have been better prepped for it. Instead, I was home and doing assignments and not even interacting with the teachers."
Jayne applauded City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov for speaking out about the crisis but said the majority of government is out of touch with the people.
"I think the problem is the government seems to prioritize migrant families over their own, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens," Jayne said.
Enraged parents told the New York Post that the move was "disgusting" and "horrible."
"The writing was on the wall the minute the city started being inundated with migrants," said one mother who only gave her name as Maria. "It’s disgusting. It should not be put on us taxpayers."
Mom Elina Bekker called the move to force students to stay home a "horrible decision" during a rally outside the school that began with tense exchanges with a handful of counterprotesters.
"The school should not be used," she said, wondering whether this would be a "recurring event" for local students.
A local Democratic assemblywoman, whose daughter also attends the school, told Fox News that the Biden administration needs to quickly close the border before the crisis gets even worse.
"It's not fair to our parents. I was also there this morning and the community is just outraged, because here you have the migrants being placed over our own children and our community. What's next?" Jaime Williams told "The Ingraham Angle."
Adams’ office has said that over 160,000 migrants have surged into the "sanctuary" city since the middle of 2022, some of whom have been bused in directly by Texas. Officials have said the city is overwhelmed, with Adams warning the crisis could "destroy" the city.
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Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
