A student is seen on the steps of the closed public school PS 139 in the Ditmas Park neighborhood in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, Oct. 8, 2020.
Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
New York City’s schools will move to remote learning only as the city tries to tamp down a growing number of coronavirus cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.
The shuttering of the nation’s largest school system had been anticipated for days after de Blasio told parents on Friday to have a plan in place in case the city decides to close schools for in-person learning, NBC News New York reported. Remote learning will begin Thursday, the mayor said in breaking the news over Twitter.
“We’re in the middle of something really tough right now,” de Blasio said at a press briefing Monday. “We have put health and safety first, and we will put health and safety first.”
The mayor said the city would close classrooms if the citywide positivity rate, or the percentage of positive tests, hits an average of 3%, which it reached on Wednesday.
On a call with reporters Friday afternoon, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the city has the authority to close schools if local officials think it’s appropriate.
Mayor de Blasio was forced to delay the start of in-person learning twice earlier this fall after union leaders objected to the lack of health measures to protect teachers, students and staff from the coronavirus.
The schools will shutter their classrooms even as indoor dining at restaurants and the city’s gyms, which experts say are at high risk for spreading virus, remain open at a reduced capacity. De Blasio has said that the city would try to safely reopening the schools as soon as possible if they were closed due to the outbreak.
“The problem is not coming from the schools. It’s coming from the bars, the restaurants, the gyms and the living room family spread,” Cuomo said on a call with reporters on Friday. “So if in fact you do close schools, I would urge the mayor and all involved to open them as quickly as possible.”
Cuomo has suggested de Blasio try to allow some classrooms to reopen by implementing a school-by-school closing system. In other parts of the state, a school could return for in-person learning after remaining closed for at least four days to allow for adequate cleaning and then would be required to test students, faculty and staff before they re-enter, Cuomo said at a news briefing Wednesday.
However, there’s not enough testing capacity to allow that “test out” system in New York City, he said.
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