New York Schools Can Reopen, Cuomo Says
NEW YORK CITY — All New York school districts can reopen in the fall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.
"By our infection rates all school districts can open," he said.
The reopening is a milestone for New York, which spent weeks as the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus crisis.
But it's not a full guarantee New York City schools and others across the state will reopen in September. Cuomo noted individual school district plans still need approval by the state's education and health departments.
This step only lets school districts move forward for "planning purposes," he said.
"They then go to step two, which is the local school district has to come up with a plan and they have to deal with their parents and teachers," he said. "Which is going to be a more complicated issue than I think many of them fully appreciate."
Every region is well below our COVID infection limit, therefore all school districts are authorized to open. If the infection rate spikes, the guidance will change accordingly.School districts are required to submit plans to NYS for review.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 7, 2020
Parent and teacher "buy-in" is important to making sure schools can smoothly reopen, Cuomo said.
To help with that, he said the state will require school districts to post specific testing, contact tracing and remote learning plans next week.
The state's biggest districts, which includes New York City, will also have to set dates for five discussion sessions with parents and the community before Aug. 21, Cuomo said. They'll also have to hold at least one separate session with teachers, he said.
The announcement arrived as New York City parents faced a deadline for deciding whether to send their children back to school buildings or go completely to remote learning.
Parents who don't fill out the form will automatically have their children enrolled in a "hybrid" learning model that alternates in-school and remote learning days.
It's a decision that comes amid parent and teacher concerns over the city's plans.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday repeated that 75 percent of parents surveyed by the city want their children to return to school. He noted, however, that the ultimate finding will come Monday when officials reveal how many parents sign their children up for in-school classes.
De Blasio said the city and state agree on "tough standards."
"We’re going to work with the state to figure out what’s safe," he said.
De Blasio said schools will not reopen if the local coronavirus infection rate rises above 3 percent — a higher standard than the state as a whole.
This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch
