Mayor Bill de Blasio with Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. City Hall. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
Sept. 1, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New York City schools will reopen more than 10 days later than originally planned, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
Public school buildings were set to reopen next week on Thursday, Sept. 10, but de Blasio pushed back the reopening date to Monday, Sept. 21 in a last-minute change to avert a teachers’ strike.
The unions representing teachers and principals said they needed more time to prepare for the unprecedented school year amid COVID-19 regulations and a new teaching model. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) had threatened to strike if the city didn’t meet their requirements — among them, mandatory COVID-19 testing.
The union representing school principals, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), penned a letter to de Blasio last month demanding that he delay the reopening of schools, noting that more time is needed to properly implement a safety plan.
De Blasio was joined by the union leaders this morning to announce that the unions and city have reached an agreement.
“A lot was on the line here to work through, but I’m pleased to report that we’ve come to an agreement to move forward, to address real concerns that have been raised about how to do things the right way,” he said at the press briefing.
Schools will use the extra time to prepare for the new year.
“The school instructional days were slated to begin Sept. 10, we’re going to hold that for a few days,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to allow preparation days for our educators and staff to get ready under these unprecedented circumstances.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza tour High School to observe ventilation inspections. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
Classrooms will open their doors on the 21st for blended learning, in which most students will attend classes in person either two or three days a week and will spend the remainder of school days learning online.
“What would have happened on Sept. 10 will now happen on Sept. 21,” de Blasio said.
All students will be required to do remote learning from Wednesday, Sept. 16 through Friday, Sept. 18 before classes switch to the blending learning model.
De Blasio also promised to have monthly COVID-19 testing at schools, in which a random sample of 10 to 20 percent of students and staff members would be tested for the virus.
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I believe as a parent that this choice to delay the reopening of the NYC schools was appropriate. Again as parents we want our children to get the Education they need and deserve..but at the same time .I would rather be safe than sorry..so we send our children back to school then there’s no telling in a matter of minutes or hours in the same day that a parent god forbid will receive a phone call because either A staff member teacher or student has a cold or slight fever then it will automatically be assumed that they have the virus.which may or may not be the case.this is beyond a difficult time for everyone.and becomes more difficult because.every day it’s something different.lets just all be patient and try agreeing on what’s best for everyone.yes we all need to and want to get back to work work and school but again one wrong move or step were back to square one.lets continue to improve this situation not make it worse.thats why my personal opinion is I would rather my child that is going to high school this year is a huge step for him and his father an I proud of his success so far.but again we would rather be safe than sorry..and that’s why the IPad’s that NYC has provided for these children are amazing and parents should have no excuse as to why there child is not up at the appropriate time as if they had to walk into the school building.log into with your teachers and follow the instructions as if you were physically in the building .
I wish the united federation of teachers would fight for non-tenured teachers like they do for the safety of their employees ?