New York City public schools close
In preparation for possible second wave, schools return to online instruction
Senator John D. Calandra School in Throggs Neck on Election Day. Alex Mitchell
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 4 OVEMBER 20-26 BTR
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BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
The inevitable fi nally became reality
for New York City public schools
during the second wave of COVID-19,
as Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza
informed principals that campuses
would close Thursday, Nov. 19,
with all classes reverting to online
instruction only.
All of New York City could become
an orange zone if COVID-19 positivity
rates reach 3% prompting school closures,
cap gatherings to 10 people and
stop indoor dining, Governor Andrew
Cuomo also announced on Wednesday.
The announcement comes after
Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to show up
to his morning press conference where
New York City residents awaited an
update on the city’s COVID-19 positivity
rate and potential school closures.
According to state data, New York City
positivity rate is still just below 3%
threshold at 2.9%.
But as the Governor spoke about the
state of the virus and an uptick in cases
has prompted state offi cials to turn the
Bronx to a yellow zone, the Department
of Education quietly told public school
principals that the city had reached a
3% positivity rate based on a seven-day
average and that all in-person classes
are canceled on Thursday.
“Given recent increases in transmission,
we have reached a point
in our City’s infection rate that requires
all students to transition to remote
learning,” Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza wrote in a letter
to principals obtained by amNewYork
Metro. “Beginning Thursday, November
19, all school buildings will be
closed, and all learning will proceed
remotely for all students, until further
notice. You will hear from your principal
shortly about next steps for you and
your student. Please note that this is a
temporary closure, and school buildings
will reopen as soon as it is safe
to do so.”
As the city fi ghts to push back a
second wave of the virus, New York
City public schools have come close to
shutting their doors and switching all
students to remote learning. Last Friday,
Mayor Bill de Blasio warned parents
during an interview with WNYC
to prepare school closures as soon as
Monday as the city’s COVID-19 positivity
rate based on a seven-day average
hovered around 3%.
A temporary system-wide shutdown
was averted earlier this week after
city offi cials reported a sharp drop
in both the city’s daily COVID positivity
rate and it’s weekly average. City
Hall attributed the dramatic change
to a boost in coronavirus test results
claiming that over 300,000 New York
City residents received a coronavirus
test over the weekend.
As the city worked on a plan to
reopen schools in the fall, Mayor
de Blasio announced in July that
schools would close if the city reached
COVID-19 positivity rate of 3% over a
seven day period to assure worried
parents that the city was taking every
precaution to keep schools safe.
Cuomo hinted last week that the
mayor should reconsider the 3% standard,
which is remarkably lower than
the state’s and instead close schools individually.
If regional infection rates
reach over 9% over a seven day average,
the governor has pledged to order
a state-wide shutdown of schools.
But de Blasio has stood by the 3%
marker while encouraging New Yorkers
that the city will work to reopen
closed schools as quickly as possible
without giving details on exactly what
it would take for in-person classes to
resume. The mayor has also said that
the city is still trying to determine
what would happen with district 75
which serves the city’s most severely
handicapped students.
Most of the city’s public schools
students are attending remote learning
classes, but the decision to temporarily
close schools for in-person
classes would disrupt roughly
300,000 children enrolled in the city’s
blended learning model in which students
take classes for one to three
days a week inside of schools.
Schools have not proven to be
COVID superspreader with infection
rates among students and staffers
remaining relatively low. In October,
the city began random testing
up to 2% of all adults and children in
schools every month. So far, testing
140,434 students and staffers have
been tested and 436 testing positive
for the virus yielding a positivity
rate of 0.23%
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