School reopening plans due July 31

By Eric D. Randall
Editor-in-Chief

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that he will make a decision on reopening schools during the first week of August.

He said final guidance from the state will be available on July 13 and school reopening plans will be due by July 31. Although Cuomo made no reference to the state Board of Regents, it is scheduled to meet on July 13. Both the governor’s office and the State Education Departments have committees studying reopening.

Regional differences in reopening are possible, he said, based on regional infection trends.

While the current infection and intubation statistics are "better than we hoped to be," Cuomo expressed concern that rates could rise due to increased activity and travel from other states, stating that 36 states have rising numbers of COVID-19 infections.

"No one wants the schools open more than I do," he said. "We will open if it is safe."

He said it’s critical to make the decision at the last workable moment based on the most recent data. He said Aug. 1 is the target date for a decision based on feedback from school officials, but it could be any day in the first week of August.

In a question and answer period with reporters, Cuomo sidestepped a question about what level of review school reopening plans will undergo. "You only have a couple of models [of reopening strategies]," he said. He suspected that schools in regions such as Long Island and Western New York will all use similar models.

Asked about how he would answer teachers who are reluctant to return to the classroom based on fear of the virus, Cuomo said, "You’re right. I’m just as concerned." He said he would only reopen if he would feel comfortable being in the school himself, or having a child in that school.

He added that the authority to make the reopening decision resides with the state, not President Donald Trump nor local officials (including the mayor of New York City). "School reopenings are a state decision," he said.

Trump’s recent threat to withhold federal funding from states that do not reopen schools was addressed by James Malatras, president of Empire State College and a key Cuomo aide. He noted that the federal government only supplies $3.5 billion of the $70 billion that are spent on public schools in New York. He added that federal money provides food and other services to the most vulnerable populations.

Malatras said private schools and charter schools need to work with public schools to devise plans for transportation and delivery of other services. However, the state wants to see individual plans from all types of schools, he said.

"We very much want to open up in September," Cuomo said. But parents may keep students home if there is an uptick in infection rates.