NEW YORK — New York City’s submitted plans for reopening schools is more of an outline than an in-depth plan, one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s advisers said Sunday.
The city, which has the largest public school district in the country, submitted about 30 pages of reopening plans on Friday night, SUNY Empire State College President Dr. Jim Malatras said. The Yonkers School District, which has about 27,000 students compared to New York City’s 1.1 million students, submitted an 80-page plan to the state.
“There hasn’t been a chance to really dive in deeply on those plans, but just to put it in perspective, what was submitted looks like an outline, not a plan,” Malatras said.
An NYC Department of Education spokeswoman clarified that they submitted overall reopening plans to the state on Friday, including health and safety protocols and testing and tracing guidelines. The DOE obtained an extension from the state for its school-specific plans.
Plans need to be submitted so parents can review them and ask any questions they have, Gov. Cuomo said.
“If the parents don’t feel comfortable, they’re not going to send their children,” he said. “We’ll accomplish nothing if we open the schools, but a significant number of parents keep their children home.”
