
NYC reopens 850 public schools
Dec. 7 reopening comes after the second system-wide shutdown
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
New York City reopened
850 public schools Monday
after Mayor Bill de Blasio
issued a system-wide shutdown
after the city reached a
3% COVID-19 positivity rate
based on a seven-day rolling
average two-and-a-half
weeks ago.
Roughly 190,000 of the
city’s 3-k, Pre-K, and elementary
school students enrolled
in blended learning,
in which students take their
courses both remotely and
in physical classrooms, returned
to buildings for inperson
classes. Over 150 of
those public schools that reopened
Monday morning are
offering returning students
in-person classes fi ve days a
week, City Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza.
City offi cials have not fi nished
tallying how many
schools reopening Monday
will now offer in-person
classes fi ve days a week but
Chancellor Carranza assured
New Yorkers that the Department
of Education would release
a total number by Tuesday
BRONX TIMES R 24 EPORTER, DECEMBER 11-17, 2020 BTR
morning.
“It will grow with each
week,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
pledged during a Monday
morning press conference.
“There is work to be
done to get the fi nal number
right and get the staffi ng
alignment right.”
Last week, Mayor de Blasio
said that a “substantial
number” of New York City
public schools reopening after
a temporary COVID-19
shutdown this year would offer
in-person classes for fi ve
days a week. On Monday, de
Blasio added that the city is
working to have every public
school offer fi ve days a
week of in-person classes although
some will not be able
to do so until the beginning
of January.
However, de Blasio promised
that most reopening
schools would be able to provide
in-person classes for fi ve
days a week, something that
public school students have
not had since early March.
“We’re pushing every
school to go in that direction
and the of those schools the
vast majority can get to fi ve
days a week for either all of
their kids or a lot of their kids,”
de Blasio told reporters.
P.S./M.S. 194 on Waterbury Avenue Photo via Inside Schools
SIRECI
Family Dental
Your Neighborhood Dentist Since 1983
GENERAL DENTISTRY
SPECIALTY CARE
FREE
CONSULTATIONS
COME VISIT US
IN OUR NEW
MODERN OFFICE
C A R I N G A F F O R D A B L E P A I N L E S S
2861 BRUCKNER BLVD. | 718-829-0455