New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that public elementary schools would return to partial in-person learning on Dec. 7 — but middle- and high-school students must remain all-virtual for now.
According to The NY Post, the mayor said children in grades K-5 and pre-K programs — whose parents have already signed them up for hybrid learning — can head back to classrooms because there “is less concern about the spread” of COVID-19 among younger children while the demands of all-virtual learning on their families are greatest.
Mayor de Blasio added that the system is pushing to return to a five-day schedule of in-person learning very soon.
“As we open schools in phases, wherever possible, we will, in schools that have the ability, go to five days a week for instruction,” de Blasio said.
But the mayor also said it’s unclear when any older students might return to the classroom.
“We look forward to the day we can reopen [the middle and high] schools. But we’re just not able to do that yet,’’ de Blasio said on a phone call with reporters earlier today.
