NYC Plans to Open Public Schools in Sept., De Blasio Says

(Bloomberg) -- New York City plans to reopen the nation's largest public-school system in September with social-distancing guidelines, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday, which would represent a major step in the city's efforts to recover from the devastating impact of the coronavirus.

“We're full steam ahead for September,” de Blasio said at a regular news briefing. The goal is to have “the maximum number of kids in our schools as we begin.”

De Blasio said he anticipates some schools will have enough space for all their students, even with the new guidelines. Those schools that can't accommodate all their students will operate on a staggered schedule, which will be announced “well in advance,” he said. Everyone will be required to wear face masks and facilities will undergo a deep cleaning each day.

“We know the sheer logistical challenges with schools that were overcrowded before the coronavirus and now have to practice social distancing,” he said.

De Blasio provided no details about what remote learning will look like under a staggered schedule. Nor did he say whether the city would seek to augment existing space with temporary trailers or auxiliary buildings. Students will be required to keep 6 feet of distance from each other, the mayor said, without explanation as to how that would be achieved.

Ultimate Authority

After the mayor's briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo's spokeswoman Dani Lever said the governor alone holds the authority to decide whether and when schools will reopen.

“All such decisions are made by state government and not local government,” Lever said in a statement. The state will consult the city's parents, teachers, health officials and elected officials,” she said, without naming de Blasio. “But the governor has said any determination is premature at this point.”

In April, when de Blasio announced he would keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year, Cuomo pushed back and insisted such decisions rested with the state. The mayor didn't address this issue during his briefing.

While de Blasio said union officials have also been consulted on reopening plans, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew sounded less optimistic about the opening date.

“Schools will re-open in the fall -- even on a limited basis -- only when the safety of students, parents and staff is assured,” Mulgrew said in an email on Thursday.

Less Optimistic

In a June 26 New York Daily News op-ed column, the teachers' union leader said he thought it would be impossible for the city to “to invest in the protective measures and staff required for schools to safely re-open” without an infusion of federal money.

The city's $28 billion school system, which serves 1.1 million students, closed in March and switched to remote learning because of the pandemic. Despite the added costs of disinfection and social distancing needed to reopen safely, public schools are facing deep cuts after the city's revenue plummeted during the pandemic-imposed lockdown.

Young people have, for the most part, been less vulnerable to the virus's most serious effects. Yet some have required intensive care and died, including a relatively small number who have fallen ill with a rare, virus-caused inflammatory syndrome. The greater risk, public health officials say, is that mildly or non-symptomatic children can transmit the virus to older people who are particularly at risk to its most ravaging aspects.

‘Hope and Pray'

“We're going to hope and pray that the scientific community makes progress on this disease because that will really open up the ability to get back 100%,” de Blasio said. “But in the meantime, there's a lot of work going on.”

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has been meeting with principals across the city to determine how much space is available in each of the city's 1,700 public schools, the mayor said.

Another problematic issue in reigniting the city's economy arose this week as officials said indoor dining won't resume as planned on July 6 as outbreaks spiked across the U.S. south and west. The mayor instead announced the city would expand outdoor dining on more than 20 streets that would be closed to traffic evenings and weekends.

The streets will close on Friday nights and weekends and include Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Mulberry and Hester Streets in Little Italy, Doyers Street in Chinatown, West 46th Street, Orchard and Broome Streets in the Lower East Side and Broadway in the Flatiron District.

“We made a decision that we could not go ahead with indoor dining with what we've seen going on around the country,” de Blasio said, referring to spiking rates of Covid-19 in southern and western states.

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