NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City public school students will be able to learn in classrooms five days a week in September, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
In a radio interview with Brian Lehrer, the mayor said that he wants “literally every kid to be able to come back to every school” in September.
“We will be fully open in September. There will be five-day-a-week instruction for everyone, period,” de Blasio said. “Public school will be available for all, in person, in September. That’s the plan.”
De Blasio said that the incoming city schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter supports the plan “110%.”
“Of course, we’ll have to have health and safety rules depending on what’s going on with the coronavirus,” the mayor added. “But it will be an entire reset as we figure out where we stand. And we’ll work with all the stakeholders. We’ll work with our health team, especially, to determine what the ground rules need to be in that new environment in September. But I expect September to be a much, much improved environment compared to now.”
De Blasio said he just had a long meeting with Porter about the plan for September.
“What I can tell you is that we intend to be able to accommodate every single child,” the mayor said. “Every family that wants their child back in school in September, it’s our expectation we can accommodate everyone, in-person five days a week.”
De Blasio said he hopes “we have advanced so far by September that there’s literally no one who wants to be remote anymore.”
But the mayor said there will likely still be families who won’t be comfortable with in-person learning and that his expectation is that there will still be a remote learning option for them.
“I think there’s only two realistic pieces here—a full, five-day-a-week calendar for kids in-person, and then a pure remote option for families that just won't be ready at that point,” de Blasio said. “But I don’t foresee blended (learning) being part of the equation anymore. I think we’ve got to get kids in school, maximum number, five days a week. That’s the vision we’re working on.”
De Blasio said he plans to have an announcement next week about “how and when” public high schools in the city will reopen.
Middle schools in the city reopened for in-person learning last week. Elementary schools, preschools and District 75 schools have been open for in-person learning since December.