NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero instructed non-Tier 1A staff Thursday not to register with New York State to get the COVID-19 vaccine but told Tier 1A staff on Wednesday they must register with New York State to get the COVID-19 vaccine and enclosed a link to the State’s CDMS Registration System.

This is based on internal emails seen by Talk of the Sound. See emails below.

Marrero knew that any non-Tier 1A employees who registered with New York State last week would be flagged as ineligible, sources say.

This is the clearest indication yet that top officials in New Rochelle knew or at least had concerns that the Montefiore New Rochelle vaccination program for City and School employees was illegal before it launched.

Marrero, contacted through a District spokesperson, was provided the emails Sunday afternoon and ask to respond. He declined.

UPDATE 1/11/21 8:30 PM: District Issues Non-Denial Denial on Report that New Rochelle Superintendent Instructed Staff to Lie to Get COVID-19 Vax from Illegal Montefiore Program

Separately, New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees, already unhappy with contract negotiations and the failure of the School Board to agree to a “Holiday Pause” to delay the return of in-classroom learning after the Christmas Break are venting their frustration on school board members who jumped the line to get vaccine shots

The news presented here is unlikely to sit well with FUSE leadership or its rank-and-file members.

FUSE called the School Board members’ actions an “insulting display of entitlement” that “underscores the board’s disregard for the health and well-being of our staff.”

In an email sent to the small number of Tier 1A staff employed by the District on Wednesday, January 6th at 9:45 a.m. — school nurses, occupational/physical therapists and speech therapists — Marrero instructed recipients not to disclose they had received an invitation to get the vaccine. See email below.

“I have shared this link with you only and ask for you not to share this link with persons who (sic) ineligible as proof of eligibility will be required,” wrote Marrero.

“The number of appointments are limited and people will be registered (emphasis added) on a first come first serve (sic) basis,” he added.

Marrero included links to the CDMS Registration System to sign up for appointments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week to receive the vaccine at the Westchester County Health Department offices located at 134 Court Street in White Plains.

“You must make an appointment — there are no walk-in slot (sic),” Marrero warned.

The January 6th email shows Marrero knew how the New York State registration process worked, that walk-ins were not allowed, and that people needed to provide proof of eligibility as a Tier 1A person.

The following day, on Thursday, January 7th, a select group of top administrators left City Hall at 9 a.m. for Montefiore New Rochelle, got their shots of the vaccine and returned before Marrero sent an “all employees” email at 12:04 p.m. See email below.

Along with this first CSDNR group was a top administrator who works remotely 100% of the time and has a contact at Montefiore, according to sources.

At 11:42 a.m. on Thursday, January 7th, Marrero sent a limited-distribution email just to City Hall staff informing them that Montefiore New Rochelle had offered to vaccinate “school-based faculty, staff, administrators and clinical staff and clerical staff supporting essential workers”. See email below.

Marrero described the program, how to take advantage of it and where at Montefiore New Rochelle to go.

“Enter the hospital through the Emergency Department. You will be screened upon entry. Indicate you are a Tier 2 school employee and work at City Hall.”

Tellingly, Marrero says “You do not need to register.”

Marrero’s “Tier 2” phrase appears to refer to New York State Tier 1B which includes “First responders (fire, police, national guard); teachers/school staff (in-person instruction) and child-care providers; public health workers; other essential frontline workers that regularly interact with public (pharmacists, grocery store workers, transit employees, etc.) or maintain critical infrastructure; other long-term care facility patients and those living in other congregate settings; individuals in the general population deemed particularly high risk due to comorbidities and health conditions.”

CSDNR City Hall workers are not “school-based faculty, staff, administrators.” Some work in the Special Education and School Psychology Department and so are “clinical staff”. There is no such classification as “clerical staff supporting essential workers”.

In essence, Marrero is telling almost all City Hall workers (and presumably the top administrators — who are also not Tier 1B — in a prior email) that they should (1) not check with the New York State Department of Health to see if they were eligible as all but a few were not eligible; (2) do not make the NYSDOH aware they are getting tested (no one who is Tier 1B was eligible); (3) for most of the people, make a false statement about what Tier they were in as they entered Montefiore New Rochelle.

Not mentioned by Marrero in his emails is Trustees of the New Rochelle Board of Education who are neither CSDNR employees nor workers at City Hall, some of whom received the COVID-19 vaccine. New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson contacted board members and city council members directly and most of these elected officials got the vaccine through the illicit program at Montefiore New Rochelle.

Talk of the Sound submitted a series of questions to a District Spokesperson on Sunday afternoon. Given the timing, we offered to update this article with any information they provide after the story is published.

Did Dr. Marrero get a COVID-19 vaccine shot via the Bramson/Montefiore program?
How many CSDNR employees are there?
How many CSDNR employees got the vaccine shot because they are 1A.
How many CSDNR employees got shots via the Bramson/Montefiore program?
How many New Rochelle Board of Education members got vaccine shots via the Bramson/Montefiore program?
Did any non-employees, non-BOE members such as consultants, lawyers, etc. get shots through the Bramson/Montefiore program?
When did CSDNR folks start getting shots under Bramson/Montefiore program?

UPDATE 1/15/21 9:30 PM

Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero, writing in a school community newsletter, indirectly address our first question, above:

“First, I want to be sure that our nurses, teachers and other colleagues – all those who work most closely with the students and in groups – receive vaccinations,” Dr. Marrero said. “Then, I will look into receiving the shot myself.”

New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees found it “especially disturbing” that Board of Education members may have “used privilege and position to jump the vaccination line.”

FUSE noted that board members and others cut ahead of “1B frontline workers, who include first responders such as police and firemen, teachers and school staff, childcare workers, the elderly and other high-risk individuals.”

“It appears that board members, who rejected a holiday pause, made sure that they got the first and possibly illegal access to those vaccines.”

FUSE has some of their own questions, outlined in a statement sent to Talk of the Sound:

Did the CSDNR attorney, Ingerman Smith, inform those members of the board who are not frontline workers that they did not qualify?
Did Board members receive vaccinations designated for frontline workers?
If there’s nothing to worry about (with teachers going back to teach in classrooms) then why cut the line?
If Board of Education members cut the line because they are concerned about their health and well-being, what is the revised plan to protect the health and well-being of the employees of this district?