NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that parents should "be prepared" for the possibility of schools shutting down "as early as Monday" as the city's rolling positivity rate continued to climb towards the key benchmark of 3%.
The mayor said the city will "immediately alert parents" if public schools plan to close, and he's urging families to plan for that potential announcement as soon as this weekend.
"People should get ready," de Blasio said in a radio interview. "This is not something any parent wants to deal with. But we should get ready. And parents should have a plan for the rest of the month of November. I think that's the safe way to think about it. Have an alternative plan beginning as early as Monday for whatever will help them get through this month if school is not open."
De Blasio said updates would be provided on Saturday and Sunday mornings as soon as the new indicators come in.
The mayor said the percentage of people testing positive for COVID over a seven-day span rose to 2.83% on Friday, up from 2.6% reported Thursday.
"That is a high number, that is a number that has gone up since yesterday," de Blasio said. "It is still below 3%—so schools remain open—but that number has gotten quite close to 3% and we are making preparations as a result."
De Blasio said there are exceptions to the closures, including community-based organizations that provide pre-K and 3-K, as well as Learning Bridges, a childcare program that's provided for free.
"So there are options that will be available if we get to that point, but I want to urge parents to have a plan ready," the mayor said.
In an email Thursday night, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza advised the city's principals to prepare for a potential temporary shift to all-remote learning.
In the email, Carranza wrote: "Out of an abundance of caution, and to keep our school communities safe, I am asking all schools to be prepared for a brief time of fully remote learning, system-wide. And while no decision has been made about a system-wide transition to remote learning, as every great school leader knows, we must be prepared for every scenario."
The chancellor also included a list of recommendations for "contingency planning," including ensuring that each school's inventory of devices and LTE-enabled iPads are distributed to students who need them and that contact information for families is up-to-date.
