Back To School: No More Remote School Come September

This morning Mayor Bill de Blasio broke some news on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, announcing that when public school resumes in September, it will be in person, without remote option.

“New York City public schools, one million kids, will be back in their classroom in September, all in-person, no remote. That’s the news I think parents, kids, everyone’s been waiting for, to know we’re going to be back strong, ready, safe,” Mayor said. “COVID is plummeting in this city, I’m happy to say. We’re almost at eight million vaccination doses since day one. And it’s just amazing to see the forward motion right now, the recovery that’s happened in New York City. But you can’t have a full recovery without full strength schools, everyone back sitting in those classrooms, kids learning again. So, that’s what we’re going to have in September.”

Right now about 60% of NYC’s public school students are learning remotely. When asked how to overcome the hesitancy of their parents to convince them to go and any social distancing requirements, Mayor said that parents are welcome to come into the schools and see what has been done to keep them safe, and that “right now, in New York City public schools, we could have every child three feet apart. We could make that work if we had to, but I actually fundamentally believe by August, the CDC will relax those rules further to recognize the progress that we’ve made in this country.”

We will update as we find out more details about the full in-person school reopening.