New York City parents demonstrate after mayor closes down schools with hours’ notice

Parents protest demanding that public schools remain open, outside New York's City Hall 

Credit: AFP

Parents in New York City protested the decision by the mayor to close schools yesterday after its coronavirus positivity rate rose, which left them scrambling to find child care with hours’ notice.

Bill de Blasio ordered a halt to in-person classes after the positive rate on coronavirus tests in the city rose to a seven-day average of 3 per cent.

The threshold is one of the most conservative for any major school district in the US.

New York City, which has the largest school system in the country, has seen a late-autumn resurgence of the virus after a summertime lull. 

Schools have been following a staggered, part-time system of classroom instruction since September, with 1.1 million students dividing their school week between in-person and online learning.

New York announced it would close schools to battle a rise in infections.

Credit: AFP

Many of the city’s private schools, however, will be exempt from the order to close.

“Why should only the rich kids that can afford private school be able to go to school in the city?” said one parent protesting outside City Hall in Manhattan.

“I’m no longer content with four men, Bill de Blasio, Michael Mulgrew (President of the United Federation of Teachers), Richard Carranza (New York City Schools Chancellor) and (Governor) Andrew Cuomo, to decide whether my child can go to school tomorrow,” said another, standing with her daughter who was holding a sign reading: “we need our teachers.”

The announcement also sparked deep frustration among parents who were left with just a few hours to make child care arrangements for Thursday morning.

"I could lose my job, I am stuck between bills and my son, and it’s a hard choice. Really hard," said Felix Franco, 30, a US Postal Service employee who has been on leave recovering from Covid-19 himself since spring and was planning to return to work in two weeks.

Mr Franco, who said he had no one else lined up to look after his six-year-old son during the school day, is already behind on his monthly car bill and racking up credit card debt.

“Today is a tough day, but this is a temporary situation,” Mr de Blasio said on Wednesday in a news conference that had been delayed for five hours amid discussions with the governor and union leaders. 

He added that schools “will be back,” but added that reopening might not take place until next month or later.

Mr Cuomo, who has been at odds with Mr Blasio on the threshold for closing schools, got into a heated exchange with reporters who asked whether they would be open on Thursday.

“Let’s try not to be obnoxious and offensive in your tone,” he told the Wall Street Journal reporter Jimmy Vielkind.