New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio cautioned parents to prepare for possible school closures as soon as Monday amid rising COVID-19 cases.
“People should get ready,” de Blasio said Friday on WNYC-FM radio. “Parents should have a plan for the rest of the month of November. I think that is the safe way to think about it.”
De Blasio announced earlier this week that if the test positivity rate in the city surpasses 3%, all in-school learning will have to shift to digital platforms, and school buildings will close. The seven-day rolling average has climbed to 2.83%, from less than 2% at the beginning of the month.
“That number has gotten quite close,” de Blasio said.
New York City public schools, the nation’s largest school system, began reopening in September following months of debate about how to resume in-person learning safely. Parents had the option of sending their children to school in-person for part of the week if they did not want to use remote learning platforms exclusively.
De Blasio’s office has also reached out to schools to warn of a possible shutdown. In a Thursday night email to principals, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said they should be prepared “for a brief time of fully remote learning, system-wide.”
“And while no decision has been made about a system-wide transition to remote learning, as every great school leader knows, we must be prepared for every scenario,” Carranza wrote.
