NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City's largest charter school network, Success Academy, announced Thursday that it would stick with all-remote learning for the rest of the school year and also end the school year a month early.
The charter school operator said staff and families were informed of the decision on Thursday. The network serves 20,000 students.
Additionally, the current school year will end a month early, on May 28, and the upcoming school year will begin a month early on Aug. 2.
Officials said the decision was driven by "increasing building closures and reopenings, often on short notice, and the disruption that would pose for families."
A press release announcing the move also pointed to a "record number of closures" last week by the Education Department, as well as higher COVID infection rates and "the rise of the highly contagious U.K. variant, which experts predict will cause a significant spike in cases by March."
The charter network shares space with public schools at some buildings. As of Thursday, 312 public school buildings were closed due to COVID cases; 91 for 24 hours and 221 for 10 days.
"Like everyone else, we desperately want to be back on campus, but we are prioritizing a consistent, productive learning experience by staying remote now," said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy, in a statement.
"By opening early, we can take full advantage of the safer summer months to make up for what we believe will be some degree of learning loss, while also giving teachers and families a break," Moskowitz said.
