Mayor Adams, UFT considering remote option for New York City Schools

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Omicron may be on the decline, but school attendance remains low. And now, after previous resistance from Mayor Eric Adams, he says a remote option is on the table.

Attendance was just 77% on Thursday in New York City Public Schools, with more than 200,000 students staying home.

Now, Adams is in talks with the teachers union, discussing the possibility of a temporary remote option.

"We need to set something up, because we hope this is the last wave, but we do not know if it is," UFT President Michael Mulgrew said.

That's even though health experts agree that kids learn and develop best when they're in a classroom.

"I'm willing to sit down and entertain with the UFT if there is a way to do a temporary remote option," Adams said. "If we can do it, and it is a quality option. But my goal, I want children in school."

Kids ages 5 and up are eligible to get vaccinated, but so far fewer than 50% of city children under 12 have gotten their first shot.

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