Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Carranza Offers List of Possibilities, But No Specifics, On NYC Public Schools Reopening In September
By
Jessica Gould
Published Jun 10, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
By
Jessica Gould
Published Jun 10, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In a new letter to principals and school superintendents, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said plans for how and when to reopen the nation's largest public school system were still being worked out, but the goal was to open in September as long as health officials say it's safe.
“Since we cannot predict what September will look like, we can—and must—be prepared for a range of possibilities,” Carranza wrote on Tuesday. “Our job is to be ready and nimble.”
The letter did not offer any specific plans. Instead, Carranza said principals should keep in mind that reopening may take place in phases, with different groups of students starting the school year at different times. Students may also have to attend school in shifts, and there could be a combination of remote and in-person learning. Carranza said top priorities include ensuring schools have the supplies and protocols they need to protect the health and mental health of staff and students. In a conference call with principals this week, Carranza said school buildings may only accommodate fewer than half the students at any given time. Officials are looking at schedules where students take morning and afternoon shifts, attend on Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday respectively, or on alternate weeks. Carranza called on principals to balance realism with optimism, invoking the experience of prisoners of war.
The framework echoed some of the priorities put forth by the United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew last month.
Carranza reopening letter
I hope you and your families are safe and healthy. At this moment you are serving our students, families, and colleagues not only in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but as we mourn anew the senseless loss of Black men and women at the hands of police, and confront the institutional racism from which it springs.
Schools across the world have started to reopen, transforming the typical classroom experience through social distancing and staggered schedules. In Japan, parents must take students’ temperatures daily; kids alternate school days so half the desks can be left empty to conform with social distancing. Students also have to keep silent at lunch, which they eat in their classrooms. Even so, some schools closed shortly after opening as new cases emerged.
In China, some students are wearing special hats that help them keep six feet apart. In the Netherlands, there are plastic shields around students’ desks.
Meanwhile, in New York City, school principals are facing tremendous uncertainty. In addition to the logistical challenges posed by the health crisis, they are confronting the prospect of deep budget cuts that would make it even more difficult to take necessary precautions. Usually, principals have received their individual budgets by now. This year they’re still waiting, as Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council grapple with a massive revenue shortfall caused by the pandemic.
To bridge the gap, the mayor has proposed significant cuts, including hundreds of millions of dollars from the city Department of Education. According to a new analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office, more than $400 million is being slashed from next year’s education budget, and the cuts would hit individual schools the hardest.
The mayor has also called for a hiring freeze, with any positions to be filled by teachers in the absent teacher reserve, a pool of instructors whose schools have closed or are facing legal or disciplinary action. Some teacher training, college prep, and enrichment programs also face cuts.
In addition, the state budget that passed in April included language allowing the governor to propose additional reductions in state aid in the coming months if more federal stimulus money did not come through.
Carranza recently testified before the City Council that larger class sizes were likely, even as administrators must find ways to spread out students. As officials call for more mental health support for students, some programs that support guidance counselors and social workers may be eliminated.
“We have no doubt that New York City principals will rise to the enormous challenges that lie ahead,” said Mark Cannizzaro, president of the union that represents school administrators, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators. “However, even the most talented and creative among them will have difficulty trying to ensure that their schools follow health precautions, address learning loss, and protect their students' social-emotional wellbeing if they are not provided the funding necessary to do so.”
Some education advocates said they hoped the mayor’s recent pledge to shift funding from the NYPD to youth may restore some funding for schools.
Teachers are also mobilizing around reopening plans, motivated in part by the sense that the city failed to protect them as the virus spread in March. Earlier this week, teachers with the Movement of Rank and File Educators, a social-justice group within the United Federation of Teachers, outlined their own set of priorities. They included increased transparency and reporting about risk, basic essentials like sufficient soap and hand sanitizer, and “health justice monitoring teams” to ensure these goals are being met without punitive and unequal enforcement.
“There was a failure to close schools in time, and excessive harm done to communities,” said Marilena Marchetti, an occupational therapist. “This stuff is serious. We have yet to see a reckoning. If schools had closed in time we would have had thousands of our loved ones with us.”
With additional reporting by Brigid Bergin. The article has been updated to include Carranza's conversation with public school principals.
Tagged
reopening
schools
schools reopening
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
US judge in NY indefinitely blocks ICE from making arrests at immigration courthouses
The judge said a Trump rule change lifting restrictions on such arrests violated administrative procedure law.
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 1, 2026 at 5:47 p.m. ET
Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
A judge had ordered officials to turn over correspondence with the Rent Guidelines Board. Randy Mastro has now asked the court to make them sit for interviews.
By
David Brand
News
Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
A judge had ordered officials to turn over correspondence with the Rent Guidelines Board. Randy Mastro has now asked the court to make them sit for interviews.
By
David Brand
Push to strengthen NY sexual assault laws gathers steam after Cornell rape allegations
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Jon Campbell
NYC mulls building temporary highway in sky over Brooklyn Bridge to fix BQE
By
Liam Quigley
and
Carol Chen
The most expensive congressional race in NJ history? This could be the one.
By
Mike Hayes
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .