Dear John,

You’ve probably seen the news already: with just two days to go before students were supposed to be in classrooms, the Mayor and Chancellor announced today that in person learning will be phased in by grade.

Here’s the new schedule for blended learning students going into classrooms:

Monday September 21: 3K and pre-K, and D75 schools start
Tuesday September 29: K-5 and K-8 schools start
Thursday October 1: Middle and high school students start

A phased in approach to blended learning by grade level that will give us time to get the details right would have been a good approach to take weeks ago. Many families, teachers and principals called for it, and I supported their call.

But to blindside everyone with this decision now is really a massive failure of leadership. Stubbornly denying the reality of the challenges, delaying decisions, and then switching course at the last minute amid mounting public pressure does not build the public confidence and cooperation needed to get us through this pandemic together.

Families have scrambled to get child care in place and adjust work schedules. Teachers have scrambled to get lesson plans together with insufficient information about who they would be teaching, where and when. Many of them were on calls with students for remote orientation, talking about what next week would look like when this announcement was made at the press conference this morning. REC centers serving children of essential workers have already closed, and the Learning Bridges childcare program is still scaling up, so many more families are being left in a lurch.

I’m worried about the later in person start coinciding with the opening of restaurants into indoor dining and colder weather pushing more of us indoors. I’m worried too that in all the reopening chaos, teachers have not had enough support to help make remote learning be the best it can be. And I’m worried that the latest change to not require synchronous learning on days when blended learning students are remote will further isolate students who are struggling and deepen inequities.

For parents, anxiously trying to make the best decisions for your family to keep everyone healthy, happy, learning, and working, and for educators, anxiously trying to figure out how you can show up for your students while keeping yourself and colleagues safe, the last few weeks have been agonizing.

I’m grateful to the teachers, principals, and families who have been working hard to make sure that school reopening is safe. I really hope that the extra time and staffing the mayor has announced can help us make it so.

But I sure wish our city leadership had made these decisions and communicated them sooner.

We’ll be doing what we can to help schools in our district get their needs met, and to advocate for families all around the city. Stay in touch with us about how we can support your communities.

Sending strength to the teachers, administrators, parents, and students who are trying to make the best of this pandemic year.

Brad

Updates and Resources

Latest Virus Data: There were 253 new cases identified yesterday, and sadly 4 more New Yorkers died from the virus. We have lost 23,762 people in NYC from the virus, and 243,314 total cases have been identified in the city. Currently, the 7-day rolling average percent of tests that came back positive citywide remains low, 0.9% as of yesterday, although we know that the infection rate varies widely across neighborhoods.
Rapid Testing: The City is now providing rapid testing with 48 hour (or much shorter!) turn around at a number of sites. Rosa and I made an online appointment on Tuesday and the whole thing was very quick and easy. Schedule a rapid test here, or learn more about how to get a test with a faster turnaround time here.
Unemployment: The $300 a week in additional federal funding is supposed to start going to people receiving unemployment this week. Retroactive payments of $300 for the weeks ending August 2, August 9, and August 16 will be available to all UI recipients and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) recipients. The Department of Labor says that many recipients will need to submit additional certification, so keep an eye out for communications and follow instructions to get the benefits.
Voting: NY voters can request absentee ballots now at nycabsentee.com. Ballots will begin to be mailed next week. Due to the timing of executive orders and legislation, voters who requested absentee ballots before August 20th may need to do so again.
Census: We are running out of time to make sure all New Yorkers are counted. If you have not yet, please complete the Census at my2020census.gov and tell your friends and family.
Get a Flu Shot: Getting the seasonal flu shot this year is more important than ever to protect each other. Flu shots are available at most drug stores or Health and Hospitals sites, more info here.
Health Insurance: The deadline for health insurance special enrollment has been extended through December 31, 2020. New Yorkers without health insurance can apply for coverage through the NY State of Health Marketplace, by phone at 1-855-355-5777, or by connecting with a free enrollment assister.