Five-day-a-week schooling in person will be offered to all of New York City’s 1.1 million public school students beginning in September, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday, signaling a further push to reopen the education system from coronavirus shutdowns.
Speaking on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, de Blasio said all-virtual schooling would remain available for those families that don’t want to send their kids in person, but he expects most to opt for a return to classrooms.
“There will be five-day-a-week instruction for everyone, period,” de Blasio said, adding: “Public school will be available for all, in person, in September. That’s the plan.”
He said the hybrid program in place in some schools would end in September, and the choices would be for students to attend all virtual or all in-person classes.
He said the city would reconsider its “two-case rule,” put into place late last summer, requiring that a school be shut down temporarily if two unconnected virus cases are found.
A plan for this semester to reopen high schools, which have been closed since late last year, would be announced next week, he said.
De Blasio said the city will soon open sign-ups for homebound seniors to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, approved for emergency use last week, door to door.
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