With the last day of New York City Public Schools on Friday, June 26, Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the plans for what schools will be doing going forward.
He says there will be summer learning availability from July 1 to Aug. 14 for students with disabilities, July 13 to Aug. 18 for grades 3 through 8 and July 13 to Aug. 12 for grades 9 through 12.
He says there is an estimate of 67,000 students in grades 3 through 8 for remote summer learning. He says there is also an estimated 83,000 students for grade 9 through 12, and 27,700 students with disabilities. The mayor says an estimated 177,700 will be enrolled in the city’s summer learning program.
Fully remote learning for grades 3 through 8 will be four days per week for six weeks, and will cover math and English Language Arts daily, with live or pre-recorded instruction and in small groups and one-on-one check-ins.
Students will also be able to participate in enrichment activities including virtual field trips, community building and social emotional learning. Check-ins with guidance counselors or social workers will also be available.
For grades 9 through 12, remote summer learning will be five days a week for six weeks. For up to five hours, students will have daily instruction on the subject they did not pass during the school year.
It will consist of small groups and one-on-one check-ins, and students will be able to participate in enrichment activities including virtual field trips, community building and social emotional learning.
Students with disabilities in all grades will have remote summer learning five days per week for six weeks. Students will have 5.5 hours of instruction related to services aligned to individualized education programs.
Students will also participate in enrichment activities including virtual field trips, community building and social emotional learning.
The city also says it is working on summer activities like self-directed and group activities.
New York City is working with private partners, libraries and museums to launch new resources and activities to keep students engaged. This could include virtual clubs, virtual fields trips and tours, educational TV and radio programming, academic prep and acceleration and more.
As of Tuesday, the mayor says 284,000 internet-enabled devices have been delivered by the Department of Education. He says out of 297,000 requests, 289,000 have been shipped and 284,000 have been delievered.
The mayor also spoke about the cases of Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. He says there are now 147 reports of MIS-C in New York City. Of those cases, 69 have tested positive for COVID-19 or antibodies and one fatality.
Mayor de Blasio also called on New Yorkers to donate blood. He says cancellations of blood drives due to COVID-19 have hurt collection of blood.
The mayor also announced line of duty benefits for those who lost their lives battling COVID-19.
He says more than 270- dedicated public servants lost their lives to COVID-19. The city will support line-of-duty death benefits for survivors of municipal employees who have died of COVID-19 and will advance state legislation to make it a reality.