Sept. 23, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Parents with children in western Queens public schools are less likely to keep their kids at home to learn remotely than the rest of the city.
The percentage of students in western Queens school districts learning remotely is significantly lower than the rest of the city, according to the latest survey results from the New York City Department of Education (DOE).
The city’s public school students are automatically enrolled in a blended learning model in which they attend class in-person on some weekdays and learn remotely on other days. However, students can attend classes remotely five days a week instead if their parents request it.
Citywide, 46 percent of public school students are learning full time on a remote basis.
Two western Queens school districts, however, have numbers much lower for remote-only learning.
Just 39 percent of School District 24 students and 43 percent of School District 30 students are learning on a remote-only basis.
District 24 covers Corona, Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, Maspeth, Middle Village and most of Woodside–while District 30 covers Astoria, Jackson Heights, most of Sunnyside, East Elmhurst, Long Island City and more.
Parents in other districts in Queens, however, are much more likely to opt for remote learning.
The percentage of Northeast Queens public school students who are learning online on a full-time basis is particularly high.
School District 26 — which covers Bayside, Little Neck and other communities near the Long Island border — has the highest percentage of remote students citywide at 60 percent.
Adjacent School District 25 that represents schools in Flushing and College Point wasn’t far behind — 55 percent of public school parents have chosen to have their children attend classes online.