NYC again delays public school reopening date
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Students wear protective masks as they arrive for classes at the Immaculate Conception School while observing COVID-19 prevention protocols in The Bronx Sept. 9. AP Photo/John Minchillo
By David Brand
New York City public schools won’t be opening as scheduled, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced for the second time this month Thursday.
School buildings were supposed to open for in-person classes on Sept. 21, but the city has delayed the reopening date until Sept. 29 for students in schools that span kindergarten through fifth grade and kindergarten through eighth grade.
High schools, middle schools and secondary schools, which span grades six through 12, will not reopen until Oct. 1, de Blasio said.
Citing ventilation problems and other safety concerns raised by families, teachers, administrators and staff, de Blasio said the city would implement the “latest in our larger plan to reopen schools the right way and give working class families the in-person education they’ve asked us to deliver.”
Full-time remote classes will still begin Sept. 20, he added. Students in 3K, pre-K and schools for children with special needs can return for in-person classes that day.
Several teachers, parents and lawmakers said they doubt the city’s current plan will hold. Schools were supposed to reopen on Sept. 10, but labor unions representing teachers, administrators and staff denounced that plan due to a lack of preparedness. De Blasio reached a deal with discontented labor unions to delay the opening on Sept. 1.
“I don’t really have much confidence in anything being put forward right now by the mayor’s office or the chancellor,” said Councilmember Barry Grodenchik. “Talking with the educators in my district, they don’t think schools are ready to be open.”
Grodenchik said principals in his northeast Queens district have complained that plexiglass partitions, floor markings and other safety protocols put forth by the city have not yet been established i their schools.
“Students, parents and children are being whipsawed and don’t know what direction to look in now,” he said. “If the schools aren’t safe to open, then they shouldn’t open.”
As part of the reopening plan, students, teachers and school staff will have priority access to COVID-19 testing at 34 sites throughout the city. Results will be made available within 48 hours, according to the Department of Education — though teachers who returned to buildings last week say that already isn’t happening.
Schools are also supposed to randomly administer tests to 10 to 20 percent of in-person students and on-site staff beginning Oct. 1.
All public school families have the option to do either full time remote learning or pursue a hybrid approach, in which students attend in-person classes two to three days a week and do classwork online the rest of time.
Students who choose the blended option can opt out any time.
Despite the change of plans, some families, students and teachers say they are relieved that the city won’t force them back into unsafe situations. They say much work remains to be done, however.
"This delay offers some relief and prioritizes students with special needs, but it is still far short of the sustainable and equitable plan we need by October,” said Daniel Gannon, a high school history teacher at Bronx Leadership Academy II High School. “For example, the City and UFT are asking us to report to school on Monday, despite being able to safely teach remotely from home.”
About 42 percent of families have opted for remote-only instruction, the Associated Press reported.
Forest Hills resident Natalie Dauphin, who is among the parents deciding to keep their children home, said teacher friends have encouraged her not to send her fourth-grade daughter to a potentially unsafe school building.
The city has done a poor job communicating with families and school staff, she added.
“It’s a circus. They’re not listening to parents and teachers,” she said.
Dauphin is able to work from home, but she said the city’s halting reopening plans have made life difficult for people who cannot work remotely.
“They should focus on childcare and arrangements for people who need to go to work,” she said.
Christine Gibson, who also chose an all-remote learning plan for her two Queens school children, told the AP that the last-minute changes and ever-changing protocols make a bad situation worse for parents, students and teachers.
“People are just going to go insane,” she said. "It’s psychological warfare.”
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
