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De Blasio Promises New Plan On Reopening Schools Next Week, Regrets Not Having A Plan Already
By
David Cruz
Published Nov 25, 2020
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Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office
By
David Cruz
Published Nov 25, 2020
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As parents wait to hear from the city and state over when public schools will reopen amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a mea culpa at a news conference on Wednesday, admitting he should have crafted a reopening redux plan before shutting down the entire school system last week.
De Blasio said he was so focused on keeping schools open that he wasn't prepared with a reopening plan if he was forced to close them again.
"I have to hold myself responsible. The better situation would have been clearly to have that plan all worked through in advance. And I think what really happened was, as with everything COVID, we had a moving target," de Blasio said on Wednesday, referencing the COVID-19 seven-day positivity rate that triggered school closures last Wednesday. "We were trying to see if there were measures we could take to avoid ever going past the 3%. I think we didn't have a plan B, and we should have had a plan B."
De Blasio -- now immersed in determining how to safely reopen schools to the roughly 315,000 in-person students -- said a clearly detailed plan on a phased schools reopening is expected next week. Earlier this week de Blasio said special education and elementary school students will be prioritized. Total buy-in from school labor unions and Governor Andrew Cuomo is critical to reopening, de Blasio noted, and carving out just how schools will increase testing is among the main sticking points being discussed.
"In a perfect world, though unquestionably, it would have been better to work it out in advance, but even as we're doing it now, it ain't easy," de Blasio said. "We will get it done though. We'll announce it next week."
The need for more testing aligns with an approach Cuomo has already put forward for schools in COVID-19 hot spots. Cuomo has warned that any part of New York City surpassing the 3% seven-day average positivity rate for ten days straight based on state data will be designated an orange zone, and earlier this week he implemented these zoned restrictions in parts of Staten Island and Upper Manhattan. The orange zone designation involves closing schools for at least four days, administering a COVID-19 test to every student and staffer prior to returning a specific school building, and ensuring 25% of a school community is tested regularly.
But while de Blasio said testing will play a greater role in his forthcoming plan, there have been no logistical details released by the city over how it plans to meet its demand for testing hundreds of thousands of students and faculty on a regular basis. Before schools closed, 60% of schoolchildren did not even submit their permission slips that allow COVID tests to be administered. De Blasio has noted that parents of students slated to return to school in person must sign consent forms so their children can be tested, and that consent form must be on file, de Blasio said.
De Blasio's admission comes on the first full week schools closed for in-person learners, shifting them to full remote learning, an approach that many parents said does not work for their children. A firm timetable on when students can return to school is still pending, with de Blasio suggesting it could happen next month.
The plan, de Blasio concedes, is subject to change depending on how much the school system is affected by the virus.
"We are going to sort out the pieces, get everyone in maximum agreement, announce a plan starting next week, and then implement in phases and we'll make adjustments as we see it play out on the ground," de Blasio said.
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mayor bill de blasio
schools reopening
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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