More remote learning, staggered classes, partitions possible at city schools
The mayor and his education chief warned Tuesday that the reopening of the city’s public schools could require a series of drastic, disruptive measures — including continued remote learning amid staggered classes and the installation of partitions.
“We’re going to look at any and all options, [and] of course, something like staggered hours or a hybrid approach will be considered,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference. “It’s way too early to know which it will be.”
City schools chief Richard Carranza — who last week urged education leaders to “Never waste a good crisis” in terms of making changes amid the coronavirus — separately said the school community should brace itself for changes with “real and serious benefits and serious serious downsides.”
He didn’t detail what the potential “downsides” might be — but some educators and parents say there are many.
The lack of live lessons inevitably hurts the learning process, while trying to ensure students attend even virtual classes can be a nightmare, they say. There are also daunting technical challenges for the system’s 1.1 million students to learn remotely and a debate over how to assess student work given the upheaval.
Carranza, speaking at a City Council hearing around the same time as de Blasio’s press conference, said, “We know that in September, we will probably have to be doing social distancing.
“In the very compact environment that are the schools in New York City, what is that going to look like? … Do we need to do additional partitions, do we need to install certain things, what will that look like to be able to meet health guidelines?” he said.
“Do we then bring all students back at the same time, or do we have a phased approach?”
He said one possible scenario would involve part of a class staying home and learning remotely while their classmates get instruction in school. The groups would alternate according to a schedule. The move would lower daily class size to enable social distancing, he said.
The chancellor said the DOE was also exploring a “shift” model that would split classes up into morning and afternoon segments.
“I’m not saying [all] this is going to happen, but I want to give you a taste of what it might look like,” he said. “We don’t know yet.
“All of them have real and serious benefits and serious serious downsides,” Carranza added of the options. “But we are trying to be prepared in all of the models that we’re putting forward based on what the medical advice would eventually look like.”
In addition to classroom-learning changes, kids might be subjected to regular temperature and COVID-19 tests before being allowed to attend class, officials said.
A single mother with two kids in the system in Brooklyn called remote-learning “not sustainable.
“What happens when I eventually have to go back to work? Who is going to stay home with my kids let alone help them with their remote-learning?” said the mom, whose kids are in third and sixth grades.
“Is anyone actually thinking this through?”
A District 15 parent in Park Slope, Brooklyn, said parents will start looking for exit strategies from the system if schools either don’t open in the fall or remote-learning continues indefinitely.
“If you don’t think parents in this city aren’t trying to figure a way out of here at this point, then you are absolutely fooling yourself,” he said.
“We understand that this is difficult for everyone involved. The DOE, parents, kids, the teachers. But continuing like this is not going to work. I think we all know that on some level.”
The teachers union, which has been hit hard by coronavirus deaths and illnesses, has demanded numerous safety guarantees before its members return to school buildings.
Michael Mulgrew, head of the United Federation of Teachers, has previously said he expects some form of remote learning and staggered classes in September to enable social distancing in crowded city schools.