Pressed by the unions of teachers and school leaders, the city of New York once again postponed Thursday the return to “face-to-face” for a large part of the students of its public schools, which was scheduled for Monday, September 21.
• Read also: Developments in the pandemic
Only schoolchildren aged eight / nine and under, equivalent to CE2 in France, and pupils with difficulties attending specialized establishments will finally be able to start physically going to school on certain days as early as next week, announced Mayor Bill de Blasio .
The others will have to wait until September 29 or October 1, depending on age, he said, and will continue to take online courses which have resumed for the most part this week.
This postponement was decided after a meeting Wednesday with school officials in New York and the powerful unions of teachers and school officials, said the mayor.
The two unions argued that the establishments were not ready and in particular lacked teachers to ensure, simultaneously, an education including certain days in person for a little more than half of the students, and a 100% online education for the students. others who chose this option.
“Real problems were raised” during this meeting, argued Mr. De Blasio, mentioning in particular the lack of teachers. “Even if progress has been made, more must be done” before being able to reopen the schools to all students, he added, committing in particular to hire another 2,500 additional teachers by the end of the month. .
On September 1, the mayor had already announced a postponement of the return to school, from September 10 to 21, under pressure from the unions who pointed to insufficient health measures.
New York City, with some 1.1 million students enrolled in nearly 1,800 public institutions, is the only one, among the large American metropolises, to have committed to providing partially face-to-face education in the fall.
The others, like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston or Miami only provide online education for the moment.