Mayor Won't Say If Remote Learning Will Be Back Next Year

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's public schools will fully reopen in the fall, but Mayor Bill de Blasio and school officials have kept mum if families will have a remote option.

De Blasio, during a Friday appearance on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, repeatedly dodged questions about the potential students could opt for remote learning for the 2021-2022 school year.

Four months is a long time to make predictions about the coronavirus, he said.

"The Chancellor and I've talked about this, we've talked about with the health care team, we are planning for every single child to be back in school," de Blasio said. "That is the plan, and we'll monitor, and we'll talk to parents, and we'll talk to health experts, and we've got a lot of time to make adjustments as we go along. But the plan is for every child to be back in school."

Lehrer pressed further: "So, people will react to this however they are reacting, but are you stating today there will be no full-time remote option in September?"

"No, I'm saying the plan is for every child to be back in school ... four months is a long time," de Blasio said.

De Blasio elaborated that all students will have an open seat guaranteed in classrooms.

"Plan A is every single child back in school," he said.

The exchange was prompted by a recent Chalkbeat story on de Blasio and school officials repeatedly sidestepping questions about remote learning in the fall.

Many families are still nervous about the coronavirus and prefer the safety of remote learning — which is seen in the fact that 60 percent of students remain remote, Chalkbeat reported.

De Blasio stressed that schools remain among the safest places in the city.

"The positivity level in schools as of yesterday: 0.27 percent," de Blasio told Lehrer. "Almost no one, thank God, with COVID in our public schools right now."