New York City Public Schools Closed For Rest Of Academic Year Due To Coronavirus Pandemic
During a press briefing at City Hall this Saturday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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While speaking to reporters and viewers, De Blasio explained it would not be viable or safe to bring schools back as the crisis continues in New York, the epicenter of the outbreak. The state already closed all schools through the end of April. De Blasio said, “It’s been a tough, tough time,” he added that social distancing is working, and now is not the time to stop it. It’s “the best way forward to protect all of us.”
“If we brought kids back for a few weeks, it wouldn’t add that much academically. The risk simply did not outweigh the reward,” de Blasio said. “It just proved there was not a clear reason on what we would gain to help out kids but the challenges and the problems were very, very clear. And we knew there was a clear danger that if we came back some schools would have to close because of individual cases of coronavirus, and it would create so much disruption and confusion,” ABC7 News quotes.
The 58-year-old said the plan now is to reopen schools in September. He announced a five-step plan to serve students and the system:
1.) Get “internet-enabled digital devices” to facilitate remote learning by the end of
2.) Expand parent helpline and tech support hours and staffing
3.) Launch new online activities and programs
4.) Graduate seniors
5.) Prepare system for opening in September and address the learning losses children have sustained.
United Federation of Teachers President President Michael Mulgrew said in a tweet:
“Keeping school buildings closed is unquestionably the right decision. Learning continues. Thanks to the efforts of our educators, remote learning is working in New York City,”
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