NEW YORK — School is set to reopen on Sep. 10, according to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the schools chancellor has laid out the tentative fall framework, which includes blended learning.
“There’s going to be a certain number of parents that even if school was open to all in person, they’re not going to be ready necessarily on September 10th to send their child back,” de Blasio said Thursday.
“It could be every single student back in school or it could be no students back in school, we have to be ready for all of that at any point, it could change, literally month to month,” he said.
The fall framework that was sent out by the schools chancellor includes enhanced health measure to make sure students, teachers and staff are safe. It includes adequate PPE and social distancing protocols.
It also includes a trauma-informed transition back to school to help kids with their social-emotional needs; blended learning, which would be a combination of remote and in-person instruction; rolling/phased starts, which means groups of students will start at different times; split schedules, which would limit the amount of students in the building at a time and school support services, where bus and food operations would be adjusted.
“One benefit this year, we got to establish relationships,” Rosie Frascella, who’s a teacher at Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn, said.
She has been doing remote learning with her students since March 23 — when school buildings closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“I feel like I’m a public health advocate, a counselor,” she said. “I teach English and social studies as well. It’s hard to wear all these hats while I’m still learning.”
But she admits it has had its benefits.
“I think it’s face to face teaching is important, we should would never get rid of that, but I think it has opened doors to give us more freedom and I can check in with a student one on one.”
For the 1.1 million NYC school students who are being affected, Frascella said she’s most concerned about their safety and getting them readjusted effectively, when schools reopen in the fall.
“Whatever happens needs to have students, parents and school staff input,” she said.
PIX11 reached out the chancellor Thursday to get more clarity on the fall framework, but we have not heard from anyone from the department of education yet.
Remote learning summer school begins July 1 for many students.
