NYC Public School Tours Aim To Ease Parent Concerns About Fall Return To Classrooms
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Even though this school year is not over yet, New York City schools are already preparing for all students to return in the fall.
Most have not stepped foot inside of a classroom since March of 2020.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas visited a school in Queens and explains how they are easing concerns of parents.
"Everybody's temperature is taken when they come in, and that's a typical morning at PS 120," said school principal Robert Marino.
A handful of parents arrived to the first open house at PS 120 in Flushing Wednesday to see the safety precautions for themselves. Their children are among the 80% of students at the school learning remotely.
"Any child who doesn't feel well, any adult that doesn't feel well, regardless of the symptoms of anything, they come down and see nurse Michelle," Marino said.
Marino lead the tour with Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter. Among the stops: Showing the stash of PPE and physical distancing in classrooms.
Those measure addressed parent Alan Alvarado's concerns.
"Seeing the social distancing, seeing all of the safety protocols and markings and everything. Mr. Marino seems to be on top of everything. Just, peace of mind is basically what happens," Alvarado said.
All students are required to return in person in the fall. All while new, more contagious COVID variants emerge, threatening those who are unvaccinated.
For now, the focus is on making the vaccine accessible, but not requiring those eligible to get it.
"The Health Department makes that decision, not the Department of Education," Porter said.
It's all about getting students back in the classroom. A kindergartener named Gabby was able Wednesday to see her classmates and teacher in person for the first time.
According to the Department of Education, PS 120 represents what's going to be happening in schools all across the system, with tours starting now and efforts really ramping up in August.
Across New York City schools, 60% of students - more than 500,000 - are learning completely online.
