Reopen NYC: New York City submits 'outline,' not reopening schools plan, Gov. Cuomo advisor says

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Sunday, August 2, 2020

City misses deadline to submit school reopening plan, Cuomo says

New York City missed the deadline for submitting its plan to reopen schools in the fall to the state despite Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiling the plan on Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo s

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York City submitted an "outline," not a plan, to reopen its public schools in the fall, a top advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday, as the governor reiterated that parents and teachers will not go into school buildings without a detailed plan.

"Some sort of a framework" was submitted by the New York City Department of Education after 5 p.m. Friday.

Cuomo advisor Jim Malatras said that it "looks like an outline, not a plan," noting it was just 30 pages, while smaller school districts submitted much lengthier plans.

The DOE submitted its overall plan for reopening schools Friday afternoon but received an extension from the state for its plan for individual schools.

This is the new metric for NYC schools to stay open

At his daily briefing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would be watching the positivity rate for COVID-19 in NYC to determine if schools can reopen and stay open for the 2020-2021 school year.

Cuomo said parents and teachers must be comfortable sending students back for in-person instruction, and they need as detailed a plan as possible.

"Everybody has to be comfortable with this plan," the governor said. "If the parents aren't comfortable, they won't send their child. They have a veto. They veto by saying, my child is staying home."

Cuomo said teachers are concerned, as some of them are older and in more vulnerable populations.

Mayor Bill de Blasio outlines the plan for reopening NYC public schools in the fall.

"They don't have the same level of comfort that some people have with young people not getting COVID," he said. "Either it's a safe plan or not a safe plan. That's why getting these plans up in detail is important because if you don't have the detail, all its going to do is generate more questions. And more questions is not a good thing right now."

Cuomo said a strike or other union action by concerned teachers would not be necessary. They simply would not report to schools for in-person learning.

"No one wants to force teachers to work against their will," he said

Cuomo reiterated that the state will make an initial determination if schools will open this week, but the state will continue to closely watch the numbers.

Cuomo likened the state's coronavirus effort to a diet.

"The diet is working," he said, urging New Yorkers to "stay on it."

In response, the New York City Department of Education released the following statement:

"Our plan was submitted on time and is the latest piece of information we've released to families and staff over the last several weeks. It answers complex questions for the nation's largest school district and applies to all of our schools with point by point details and specifics. We continue to prioritize the health and safety of our communities and won't do anything that isn't in the best interest of our students and staff-which is why we have a stricter threshold for reopening than the State."

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