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New York schools to close again as city fights coronavirus

Published:Wednesday | November 18, 2020 | 3:48 PM
In this September 29, 2020, file photo, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (right) greets students as they arrive for in-person classes outside Public School 188 in New York. De Blasio told parents Friday, November 13, 2020, to be prepared for the city's school system to end all in-person learning instruction as soon as Monday, November 16, if the spread of the coronavirus continues to accelerate. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is shuttering schools to try to stop the renewed spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday in a painful about-face for one of the first big US school systems to bring students back to classrooms this fall.

The nation’s largest public school system will halt in-person learning Thursday, the mayor said.

At an afternoon news conference, the Democrat said plans were being made to bring in-person learning back as quickly as possible if the infection rate drops, though he cautioned that the bar to return would be higher than it was to close down.

“We’re going to fight this back. This is a setback but it’s a setback we will overcome,” de Blasio said.

Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza stressed that school would still be in session remotely.

The city had said since summer that school buildings would close if 3% of all the coronavirus tests performed citywide over a seven-day period came back positive.

As the rate neared that point last week, de Blasio advised parents to prepare for a possible shutdown.

The mayor said the rate equalled that mark as of Tuesday.

The city’s more than 1 million public school students will now be taught entirely online, as most already are.

As of the end of October, only about 25% of students had gone to class in school this fall, far fewer than officials had expected.

In-person school resumed September 21 for pre-kindergarteners and some special education students.

Elementary schools opened September 29 and high schools October 1.

At the time, the seven-day positive test average rate was under 2%.

Even as the school system stayed open, nearly 1,500 classrooms went through temporary closures after students or staffers tested positive, and officials began instituting local shutdowns in neighbourhoods where coronavirus cases were rising rapidly.

As of midweek, more than 2,300 students or staff at public schools had tested positive since the start of the school year.

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