NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City is set to reopen its public middle school buildings later this month.
In-person learning is reportedly set to resume on Feb. 25 for the 62,000 students in grades 6 through 8 who signed up for the option last year. That's about a third of all middle school students.
Teachers and staff will report a day earlier.
The city is expected to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine appointments for middle school staff members between Feb. 12 and Feb. 21.
"This is going to be great for New York City," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during his daily briefing Monday.
"Nothing can replace in-person learning and the support that our students receive in person," Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said. "We're so thrilled to be able to provide that and it won't come without additional support because we will not compromise on safety. We're hiring additional staff to support our situation room in responding quickly to schools, we're adding teams to conduct weekly testing in middle schools as well as continued weekly testing in all of our elementary schools."
Carranza said of the471 middle schools he expects half will be able to open their doors on Feb. 25, offering five-day-a week instruction to students.
About 70% of all students have opted out of in-person instruction, choosing instead to learn from home through the remainder of the school year.
According to the New York Times, which was first to report the news, the city does not yet have a plan to reopen its high schools.
"I want to get our high school kids back during the course of the current school year, but there's going to be more work needed. High schools are more complex," de Blasio said, adding that the goal is to have five-day in-school education for all grades by the fall.
The city's middle schools have been closed to in-person learning since November.
Some elementary school students returned to the classroom on Dec. 7
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