Thousands of teachers may be forced out of NYC schools next week because of

That’s the morning after a city vaccine mandate for educators goes into effect. Unions representing classroom teachers, principals and supervisors say the mandate’s introduction has been so poorly handled that many school employees will be suspended, resulting in unsafe schools.

New York City educators in general are more vaccinated than the rest of the city, state and nation. Some 81% of all Department of Education employees and 87% of teachers have received at least one dose as of Thursday night, according to the NYC Department of Education (DOE).

But that still means approximately 10,000 city teachers have yet to show they have had at least one shot of vaccine. If they do not, they risk losing their jobs. Workers have an option of taking a year of unpaid leave or getting a severance package if they do not get vaccinated as required by Mayor Bill de Blasio .

Both the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) are calling on de Blasio to delay the vaccinate-or-leave deadline, which is Monday at midnight.

“Any staffing shortage, especially during a pandemic, is a threat to the health and safety of both students and personnel. It is dangerous and irresponsible for the city to move forward with its plan to allow schools and centers to operate so severely understaffed. As a result, we are calling on the city to delay the deadline for the mandate to allow the city to develop a reasonable contingency plan.”

Both Cannizzaro and UFT President Michael Mulgrew said they have no idea at this point just how bad things could be at individual schools, as site-specific information on vaccination rates has not been shared by the DOE.

“I’ve heard from several schools that have anywhere between 30 and 100 people currently on a non-compliant list,” said Cannizzaro.

“The truth is, at this point, principals and superintendents have been reaching out consistently to tell us that they are concerned about not having enough staff come Tuesday morning,” Cannizzaro said during a joint news conference with Mulgrew.

Scramble for subs feared

Schools will have just hours from midnight Monday, when they find out their total number of workers who are not vaccinated, to try to find vaccinated substitutes for when children arrive Tuesday morning.

But as of Friday, the union leaders said their members had no idea which the hardest-hit schools would be.

“No one has reached out to find out exactly which schools are going to have an issue and giving them additional support to make sure that the principal, the superintendent and everyone is…