Tens of thousands of New York City middle schoolers will be back in the classroom at the end of February — as officials admitted on Monday the “students are suffering” in isolation.
About 60,000 city school kids will return to in-person instruction — either full or part-time — on Feb. 25, according to the DOE.
Administrators at the schools will determine the frequency of classroom instruction based on enrollment and the number of kids who have opted to attend in person.
“I’m so excited that we’re able to announce a return for middle school students today,” said schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. “Our educators have done an incredible job supporting students remotely. But as we’ve said from the beginning, nothing can replace in-person learning and the support that our students receive.”
Both Carranza and Mayor Bill de Blasio stressed Monday that reviving schools has become imperative due to mounting evidence of the damage wrought by student isolation.
“It’s real,” Carranza said. “And it’s really having an impact on students. I’ve heard from a number of families and educators who have talked to me about the fact that their students are suffering.”
Officials said that they will ramp up testing capacity for teachers to facilitate the reopening and are confident that conditions are right for the expansion of classroom learning.
In a cautious statement, the teachers’ union said Monday that they will scrutinize the city’s ability to provide adequate COVID-19 safeguards.
“The UFT will be monitoring to ensure that the testing regimen, the presence of personal protective equipment and social distancing requirements are strictly adhered to as new grades and buildings reopen,” said spokesperson Dick Riley in a statement.
Some groups within the union have staunchly resisted classroom learning, arguing that COVID-19 protections remain haphazard and inadequate and that city educators should not be compelled to return to their buildings.
Carranza asserted Monday that the DOE has built up its coronavirus infrastructure Monday.
“What’s changed is that we’ve built capacity and will continue to build capacity,” he said. “But we also have this very deep seated desire to make sure that the isolation and the harm of not being with other human beings that our children have suffered with — that we can start undoing that.”
The city has emphasized that mandatory random testing of school populations — including both students and teachers — has produced minimal infection rates.
City Hall resumed classroom instruction for some 3-k, pre-k, and K-5 kids along with a portion of special needs learners on Dec. 7 after all schools were closed several weeks prior due to rising COVID-19 rates.
But hundreds of those buildings have been forced to temporarily shutter since that resumption due to coronavirus infections.
About 335,000 of the city’s roughly one million students have opted for in-person instruction this year, with 70 percent learning on a fully remote basis.
Roughly 60,000 of the city’s 196,000 middle school students signed up for in-person learning, according to the DOE.
There are 471 middle schools in the DOE system and about half will be initially able to reopen on a full-time basis, officials said.
De Blasio noted Monday that the city might consider giving parents another opportunity to opt into classroom instruction if there is a marked improvement in coronavirus conditions.
Hizzoner also sounded a hopeful note about next year, asserting that current trends are moving in the right direction and that a full September reopening is conceivable.
“Everything we’re seeing says that we’ll be in an entirely different situation,” he said.