It really comes at little surprise to anyone, but the city announced this morning that the nation’s largest school system would remain closed through the end of this school year.
NYC schools end on the last Wednesday in June- one of the later end dates around the country. With 1.2 million students, around 90,000 teachers, and tens of thousands of more support staff, its size is hard to comprehend even when you are in it as I was for 32 years as a high school teacher.
Students have been taking lessons at home via remote learning/video conferencing, etc. It is far from perfect, but it is better than sitting in a petri dish of school building. The system has already lost several teachers and other staff to COVID.
If the school had reopened at the start of May, there would have been just around 35 or so class days left to the term. It would have taken at least three days to get everyone back up and running. Attendance would have been beyond dismal. In the days before the schools closed last month, attendance in some schools was under 35%.
One of the sadder things will be (and not just in NYC) are the seniors who will have no Senior Prom, no real graduation ceremony, no real chance to have teachers and friends sign yearbooks, and other hallmarks of the end of high school.