Kids in NYC will not be in the classroom many days with new plan
NEW YORK - When New York City public schools reopen for the 2020-2021 school year, the learning experience will be unlike anything students, staff and parents have ever seen, announced the mayor and schools chancellor Wednesday.
As New York City continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the school system will implement a 'blended learning' model or 'fully remote' learning model in September.
The 1.1 million public school students will have school five days a week. Most students will have in-classroom learning 2-3 days depending on the week while the other days students will be instructed remotely.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza outlined the various models that have been shared with school principals to follow. The school's capacity to implement proper social distancing requirements and sanitation will determine which model a school chooses.
In one of the various sample models, Carranza referred to students attending in-person classes one day a week with the remainder of the week's instruction conducted remotely.
Students and staff will be expected to wear a face-covering at all times.
"The optimum size is 9-12 students in a classroom," said Carranza.
All schools will be cleaned nightly with electro-static machines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Parents will have the option to keep their child out of the classroom and conduct learning remotely, exclusively. Those parents can also return their child to in-person instruction at various points throughout the school year.
A deadline of August 7 has been set for parents to enroll their child in fully-remote learning.
"Our goal is to have as many students in person as much of the time as possible," said Carranza.
Further guidance on the reopening plan would be announced in the weeks to come.
Speaking during a briefing later in the morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would announce whether schools would reopen for in-person instruction across the state during the first week of August.
"There is a huge amount of work to be done," said de Blasio. "If the data tells us to open the schools differently, we will work with the state to do so."
The city has launched a website with more information and a list of important dates for students, parents and staff.