NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City is changing the rules on the number of cases that would shut down one of its more than 1,800 school buildings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that the much-maligned two-case rule, in which a school has to close with two COVID-19 cases in separate classrooms, is going away.
"We looked at the data, we looked at the science and we have come to the conclusion it's time for a change," de Blasio said. "Moving off two cases is going to lead to schools being open much more consistently — that we can say with assurance. All the models we've done prove that anything different than the two-case rule will lead to greater consistency in schools being open."
New guidance is expected to be released in the coming days.
"We got a little more work to do on the new rule. I can certainly say the two-case rule will be gone and we're working on what we think is a new rule," de Blasio said. "We do want to talk to all of the organizations, the unions that represent the folks who work in our schools and we want to go over the evidence we have with them and talk about what the new rule should be."
The unions had staunchly defended the two-case rule as necessary to keep teachers safe.
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew issued a statement reacting to the news.
“A proclamation is not a plan. The city can’t change the two-case rule without Albany’s approval," Mulgrew said. "Thanks to the effectiveness and availability of vaccines, the percentage of adults testing positive for COVID has declined. But students now account for two-thirds of the new infections. We have been talking to our medical experts, and we will continue to discuss these issues with the city."
Mulgrew added, "Any change to the two-case rule has to take the safety of children and their families into account, not the Mayor’s need for a Monday morning announcement.”
Due to the rule change, the city is also extending the opt-in period until Friday to give families more time to decide whether they want their schoolchildren to return to classroom learning.
Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter said it is understandable many parents were wary of sending children back to schools due to frequent closures.
"I know that frequent closures because of the old policy have made many families wary of in-person learning, opting instead for the consistency of remote learning," Porter said. "We want families to have more time to consider returning back to our classrooms and we want you to have the time to make these decisions in a timely manner."
The opt-in window was originally scheduled to close Wednesday.
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