School reopening is the process of putting in place policies, procedures and financing that enable safe operations, stemming learning loss, restoring well-being and protection, and ensuring access to education for the most marginalized children. It requires a multisectoral approach with close collaboration among the ministries of Education, Health and Water, Food and Agriculture, and others.
The experiences of districts that have been able to keep schools open over the course of the pandemic highlight the importance of implementing multilayered mitigation strategies in order to mitigate risk and reduce the likelihood of transmission within schools. As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to wind down, it is increasingly feasible to return schools to in-person instruction.
By the end of December 2020, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) had reopened its primary and secondary schools for five days of in-person instruction per week while retaining hybrid learning options in many buildings. Students and teachers remain required to complete classroom quarantine when a confirmed case of COVID-19 is present, and the district continues to use its Micro-Cluster strategy with color-coded zones.
Throughout this reopening process, NYCDOE and its union partners worked closely to ensure that educators’ workplace risks were assessed and addressed, and that the best practices for remotely delivering instruction were implemented. Educators with preexisting health conditions were allowed to serve as remote-only teachers, and staff members used a protocol developed with ventilation experts to identify and report issues related to indoor airflow in each building.