In-person classes see few students
A quarter of NYC public school students have attended in-person instruction
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,22 OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 BTR
The future home of affordable housing at 580 Gerard Ave. Photo by Jason Cohen
BY JASON COHEN
A 200-unit multi-family development
is set to be built in the south
Bronx with 30 percent of the rooms
designated for affordable housing.
Silverback Development along
with Opportunity Zone equity purchased
580 Gerard Ave. in Concourse
Village, and will construct an eightstory,
multi-family rental complex
comprised with retail and parking .
This is Silverback’s fi rst
investment into the Bronx.
“Not since 1970 has demand for
housing in the Bronx been higher,
making this an opportune time for
a project of this kind,” said Josh
Schuster, managing principal of
Silverback Development.
Amenities will include a sun deck,
touchless elevators, fi tness center,
yoga room, grilling stations, screening
room, party room and bike storage.
There also will be a commercial
component on the ground fl oor.
Schuster said they plan to meet with
the stakeholders to see what types of
services they want there.
“We want to have a positive impact
on the community,” he said.
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
A little over 280,000 students
have attended school in
person since the city began its
phased-in reopening plan in
September, Mayor de Blasio
said on Monday, Oct. 26.
The announcement means
that offi cials reopened public
schools for only a quarter of the
city’s 1.1 million public school
students. In August, de Blasio
predicted that nearly 700,000
public school students would
participate in the city’s hybrid
learning model where students
take classes two to three days a
week in person.
“This number is one that
we have understood to be a
work in progress,” said de Blasio.
“It’s lower than what we
had pre-COVID. Some of that
is understandable because of
the dislocation that’s occurred
but we need to get it back to the
number we had before.”
An email from the Department
of Education clarifi ed
that 280,000 students have
stepped inside a school for
class “at least once so far.”
De Blasio and Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza
reported that the average percentage
of hybrid learning
students attending class every
day is 85.3% a signifi cant
drop from last year’s attendance
rate of 92 %. The Offi -
cials added that an average of
82.9% of students are attending
in-person classes while an average
of 85.5% of students are
attending remote classes.
Average attendance rates
for both in-person and remote
classes have gone up in the fi ve
weeks since school reopened,
an email from department offi
cials claim. During the fi rst
week of classes when all students
were remote, the average
attendance rate was 79.4%, according
to the email. The week
of Sept. 21, when the city’s
youngest hybrid learners returned
to school, the average
increased to 85.3 %. In the following
weeks the average attendance
rate increased to
86.2%, 86.6% and 87.2% consecutively,
the department said.
Parents and teachers have
long claimed that the mayor
and chancellor’s representation
of overall interest in hybrid
learning is inaccurate
and that both offi cials and the
Department of Education have
misrepresented hybrid and remote
learning enrollment.
The department releases
weekly updates on hybrid and
remote learning enrollment
which only includes the percentage
of students based on
a city survey and has never
provided attendance numbers.
Unless a parent or guardian
chooses to opt their child
into remote learning the department
assumes they want
their child to be enrolled in
hybrid learning.
Some remain skeptical of
the numbers. One Brooklyn
high school teacher told reporters
something that causes
her to question the data is the
fact the city automatically enrolled
higher schoolers who
have essentially dropped out
to work full-time, referred to
as “Long Term Absences,” into
hybrid learning.
“It’s just another slice of
kids who are not actually attending
anything, but who
the mayor says are evidence
of how much families want
in person,” said English
and ELA teacher at Franklin
D. Roosevelt High School
Sarah Yorra.
Public school families will
only have one more opportunity
to opt-in to hybrid learning
for the remainder of the
year which will begin Nov. 2
and end on Nov. 15.
“Now that they’ve seen the
schools up and running for
a month they have gotten a
chance to see how schools are
working and parents have gotten
a lot more information,” de
Blasio said.
This story fi rst appeared on
amny.com.
Photo via Getty Images
Bronx affordable housing
FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF THE BRONX
--------------------------------------------------x
In the Matter of : Docket # NN-08467-20
WISDOM WILLIAMS :
: SUMMONS
A Child(ren) Under Eighteen Years :
Alleged to be Neglected by :
RUBY WILLIAMS :
Respondent
--------------------------------------------------x
NOTICE: PLACEMENT OF YOUR CHILD IN FOSTER CARE MAY RESULT IN THE LOSS OF
YOUR RIGHTS TO YOUR CHILD. IF YOUR CHILD STAYS IN FOSTER CARE FOR 15 OF THE
MOST RECENT 22 MONTHS, THE AGENCY MAY BE REQUIRED BY LAW TO FILE A
PETITION TO TERMINATE YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS AND TO COMMIT GUARDIANSHIP
AND CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILD TO THE AGENCY FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION. IN
SOME CASES, THE AGENCY MAY FILE BEFORE THE END OF THE 15-MONTH PERIOD. IF
SEVERE OR REPEATED CHILD ABUSE IS PROVEN BY CLEAN AND CONVINCING
EVIDENCE, THIS FINDING MAY CONSTITUTE THE BASIS TO TERMINATE YOUR PARENTAL
RIGHTS AND TO COMMIT GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILD TO THE
AGENCY FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION.
A petition under ARTICLE 10 of the FAMILY COURT ACT having been filed with this court
alleging that the above-named child(ren) is a neglected child(ren), a copy of said petition being
annexed hereto:
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before this court at 900 SHERIDAN AVENUE,
BRONX, NY 10451, Family Court Virtual Intake Part, Dial in Phone Access: Call 1-347-378-
4143, Conference ID: 562049604#; on November 19, 2020, 9:30 o’clock in the fore-noon of
said day, to answer the petition and to show cause why said children should not be adjudicated to
be a neglected children and why you should not be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of
ARTICLE 10 of the FAMILY COURT ACT and why an order of support under Section 235 of the
FAMILY COURT ACT should not be made if the final disposition is an order of placement.
On your failure to appear as herein directed, a warrant may be issued for your arrest.
FURTHER NOTICE: Family Court Act §154(c) provides that petitions brought pursuant to Articles
4,5,6,8 and 10 of the Family Court Act, in which an order of protection is sought or in which a
violation of an order of protection is alleged, may be served outside the State of New York upon a
Respondent who is not a resident or domiciliary of the State of New York. If no other grounds for
obtaining personal jurisdiction over the Respondent exist aside from the application of this
provision, the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the respondent is limited to the issue of the
request for, or alleged violation of, the order of protection. Where the Respondent has been served
with this summons and petition and does not appear, the Family Court may proceed to a hearing
with respect to issuance or enforcement of the order of protection, as well as to inquest on the
underlying neglect allegations, and issue a finding in their absence.
STEVE BYRNES
CLERK OF THE FAMILY COURT
Dated: October 8, 2020
/amny.com
