ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that schools across New York State will be closed rest of the academic year. Schools will continue to provide distance learning for the remainder of the academic year.
Cuomo says we must protect our children, students and educators. Schools have been closed since mid-March.
A decision on summer school will be made at the end of May, the governor said.
Cuomo says school officials should start thinking now about what the school year will be like for the next academic school year in the fall.
The governor says schools have high density and transportation issues and there is a greater risk of spread unless protective measures are in place. There are more than four million students in K-12 and college in New York State.
NYS Education Department Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe issued a joint statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has put us all in a place where we are required to make difficult but necessary decisions to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Closing schools for the remainder of the school year is the right one to protect New York’s students, teachers and school staff.
“We are continuously inspired by the work of educators, staff and parents across the state to provide instruction throughout the pandemic. We know it hasn’t always been easy, but we must continue to forge ahead for the benefit of our students.
“The Board of Regents and the Department recently announced the formation of a statewide task force made up of educational leaders to guide the reopening of the state’s schools. The task force will work with the Department of Health and share recommendations with the Governor Cuomo’s New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board. By working with our partners across the state, we can ensure that our children’s educational, developmental and overall wellbeing is considered during this important discussion.”
New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta issued this statement following the governor's announcement:
“We have said all along that the health and safety of students and educators must be the primary concern during this crisis. Keeping school buildings and colleges closed for the rest of this academic year is the smart choice. We will work with Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa and state education and health officials on planning a safe and gradual re-opening. We also will continue advocating that summer school programming should be voluntary, with decisions on what is right for students made at the local level.”
Even though the number of hospitalizations are going down, the number of new hospitalizations is just under 1,000 per day, which Cuomo says is still a high rate.
Cuomo says the state needs to be more targeted in our response in hopes of preventing the spread to see where these new cases are coming from.
The majority of the new cases are located in downstate NY, but 3.7% of those new cases are in Erie County.
The next step, the governor says, they need to find out where theses new hospitalization cases are, are the essential workers, is it someone who is home and is being visited by a sick person, where do they work, how do they commute? Are they taking public transportation. Are the new hospitalizations from nursing homes? What is the sex, age and health status of the new cases?