NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- New York City's public schools will begin reopening in phases on Monday, Dec. 7, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.
The reopening will begin with grades K-5, 3-K and pre-K on Dec. 7.
Then later that week on Thursday, Dec. 10, District 75 special education programs will begin heading back.
“We are focusing on the younger grades,” de Blasio said. “Because we know studies consistently show younger kids are having less of a negative experience and there’s less concern of spread when it comes to younger kids.”
The mayor said it was also important to help out parents who are juggling childcare for younger students.
“We’re going to address in the future middle school and high school, but we’re not ready for those yet,” the mayor said. “We’re working to get to that day, but we’re not there yet.”
De Blasio said the city is also working to reopen schools in orange zones of the city as early as Dec. 7 by working with the state on any additional measures.
“That’s just a small part of the city right now, but we will work to reopen those schools as well following the very clear state guidelines,” de Blasio said.
The mayor said any schools that have the ability will go to in-person education five days a week for students who have opted for blended learning.
De Blasio also announced that testing will go from monthly in every school to weekly in every school.
Testing consent forms will also be required for attendance from now on unless a student has a medical exemption from a doctor.
“Students will not be able to attend school unless they have a consent form on record—period,” de Blasio said.
Schools closed for in-person learning on Nov. 19 after the city's seven-day COVID positivity rate hit 3%. De Blasio said Sunday that the rate had risen to 3.90%.
The city will no longer use the 3% threshold, the mayor confirmed.
"It's a new approach, because we have so much proof now of how safe schools can be," de Blasio said, adding that the city feels confident "we can keep schools safe" with new safety standards like increased testing.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said his union supported the approach as long as testing is ramped up.
“While schools in the city’s high-impact red and orange coronavirus zones will continue to abide by the state’s 3% closing rules, we are supportive of a phased reopening of schools in other neighborhoods as long as stringent testing is in place. This strategy — properly implemented — will allow us to offer safe in-person instruction to the maximum number of students until we beat the pandemic,” Mulgrew said in a statement.