You are reading

Cuomo Says Schools Can Hold in-Person Classes With Conditions This Fall

Governor Andrew Cuomo (Mike Groll_Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

Aug. 7, 2020 By Michael Dorgan 

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that all schools across the state are permitted to re-open in the fall for in-person classes.

The governor gave the go-ahead after recognizing that all 10 regions across the state had met the requirements he set before schools were permitted to reopen in September.

In July, Cuomo said that schools would only be allowed to reopen in regions where the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive was significantly below 5 percent.

All 10 regions across the state had met that requirement as of Friday, with the state average currently around 1 percent, he said.

The governor said that school districts would still need to get their reopening plans approved by the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Education Department before being permitted to hold in-person classes.

Cuomo warned that if the infection rate went above 5 percent he would review his decision.

However, Cuomo said he was optimistic that New Yorkers would work together to keep the rate down.

“If anybody can open schools, we can open schools,” the governor said at a press briefing Friday.

“We’ve kept that infection rate down, and we can bring the same level of intelligence to the school reopening that we brought to the economic reopening,” Cuomo said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has clashed with the governor on school issues throughout the pandemic, has not given the all-clear for New York City schools to reopen. However, they are on track to reopen in September, based on his standards.

De Blasio said Friday that city schools would be permitted to reopen as long as the percentage of positive tests was below 3 percent and that students and adults wore masks or face coverings. The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases in New York City stood at around 1 percent this week, according to state data.

Cuomo said that it would be up to school districts to decide on the layout of classes and they would need to get their plans approved by the state Department of Education.

The city announced last week that is planning to open on a hybrid model in which children attend in-person classes for one to three days per week and learn online for the rest of the time.

Cuomo said that parents and teachers must be involved in the reopening process and it is imperative that they feel safe and secure before returning to school.

“I have been deluged with calls from parents and teachers, and there’s a significant level of anxiety and concern,” he said.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hate Crimes Task Force investigating bomb threats against Mamdani: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.

The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.

Seven teens indicted for attempted murder in brutal Kissena Park gang attack on two girls: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted seven teenagers for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery, and other crimes for an attack on two girls inside Kissena Park in Flushing in early May.

The defendants, who are all 17 years old, were variously arraigned in Queens Supreme Court between June 4 and Wednesday in two separate 25-count indictments with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

Queens Defenders founder charged with stealing nonprofit funds as second scandal unfolds

The founder of the Queens Defenders and her husband have lawyered up after they were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit organization.

Former Queens Defenders executive director Lori Zeno, 64, surrendered Wednesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Zeno was arraigned on an indictment charging her and Rashad Ruhani, 55, with wire fraud conspiracy, theft, money laundering conspiracy and other crimes.

Krishnan leads push to end city contracts with convicted landscaping company owner

Jun. 18, 2025 By Czarinna Andres

A coalition of elected officials and labor leaders is calling on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to immediately terminate all contracts with Griffin’s Landscaping, a city contractor whose owner, Glenn Griffin, was recently sentenced to two years in federal prison for bribery and illegal dumping as part of a $2.4 million environmental crime scheme.