Governor’s decision on New York schools expected by end of week
Joseph Spector – New York State Team | USA TODAY NETWORK – in the D&C on 8/5/2020 on page A1
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo will decide this week on whether to allow schools to open next month, and he has been offering hints at what will be needed to do so safely.
New York’s roughly 700 school districts shuttered in mid-March as the coronavirus swept the state, leading to more than 25,000 deaths, the most in the nation.
Now Cuomo and school officials are left to decide how to reopen them in September, a critical decision that could easily impact New York’s ability to keep its infection rate in recent weeks at among the lowest in the nation.
So Cuomo is taking a cautious approach as he and the state Education Department weigh the reopening plans submitted last week by all school districts. He said the final decision rests with parents on whether they will send their kids to school.