ALBANY – New York will decide in early August whether to allow schools to reopen in the fall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.
Cuomo laid out a timeline for a school-reopening decision for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered in-person education in March, promising to provide a final decision by August 7.
The state will provide guidance to school districts by Monday, which the districts will then use to craft individual reopening plans that they will submit to the state by July 31.
New York will then will make two decisions over the following week after analyzing the latest COVID-19 data: Whether to allow schools to reopen at all, and whether to accept, reject or modify each district's individual plan.
Cuomo said it would be "reckless and negligent" to decide today what schools can do in the fall because the data charting the coronavirus' spread is rapidly changing.
"Everybody wants the schools to reopen," he said Wednesday at a news conference in Manhattan. "Nobody wants the schools to reopen more than me."
Schools have been crafting plans without guidance
School districts across the state have been trying to put together plans for the fall without firm guidance from the state.
The state Board of Regents is scheduled to meet early next week and is expected to provide guidance for school districts to consider when crafting their plans.
Ray Sanchez, superintendent of the Ossining school system in Westchester County, said it's helpful to have a timeline for a decision in place, even if schools were hoping for a decision earlier than the first week of August.
"There was discussions that maybe plans were due on the 15th, and now we have a better sense and we can articulate that to our community, who's obviously eager to know where our plans are," he said. "Right now I plan on communicating that to our families, that we just got this new information from the governor, and we're going to proceed accordingly."
The governor said schools may choose to submit a full or partial reopening plan for the fall.
The state will go through each plan to determine if any changes need to be made before it can be accepted, Cuomo said. But those determinations may not ultimately be applicable: The state could still decide not to allow any schools to reopen in the fall.
"It's difficult because families are waiting, staff is waiting eagerly to know what's happening," Sanchez said. "The sooner we have that information, the sooner we can begin to solidify our plans. This will leave us less than a month to make sure everything's up and going."
New York City, meanwhile, unveiled its reopening plan Wednesday.
The city schools, the largest public school system in the country, are planning for a partial reopening, with a staggered schedule that will have individual students in school no more than three days a week and strict limits on the number of people allowed in a classroom at one time.
Trump pushing for full reopening
Cuomo's announcement Wednesday also came as President Donald Trump continues to put pressure on states to reopen their schools in the fall, which is seen as a necessary step to fully restart the coronavirus-harmed economy.
Since many parents rely on schools for child care during the academic year, some may not be able to return to work if schools don't reopen as many hope.
Trump, a Republican, took to his Twitter account Wednesday to threaten to hold back federal education funding from states that do not reopen fully.
"The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families," Trump tweeted. "May cut off funding if not open!"
James Malatras, a top adviser to Cuomo and president of SUNY Empire State College, said New York gets about $3 billion in federal funding for education each year, most of which goes to high-needs districts.
The governor dismissed Trump's push, noting states — not the federal government — have the final call on schools.
"School reopenings are a state decision. Period," said Cuomo, a Democrat. "That is the law and that is the way we’re going to proceed. It’s not up to the president of the United States."
More: Coronavirus: School districts try to develop reopening plans without state guidance
More: Coronavirus and your summer: The definitive list of what's open and what's not in New York
Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.
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