City officials are considering a remote schooling option for kids with immunocompromised relatives, a source told The Post Friday.
The Department of Education previously said that students who themselves are vulnerable could learn from home — but the city may now extend that offer to kids with family members at elevated risk, the City Hall source said.
News of the proposal drew skepticism from some educators. A Bed-Stuy middle school teacher warned that expanding remote learning eligibility could complicate the resumption of classes in September.
“It’s going to be difficult to know where to draw the line,” she said. “I can see that becoming a headache for principals if it’s not handled properly or clearly.”
Meanwhile, state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa wrote in a Thursday memo that districts “may work with students and families to offer remote options if it is deemed to be in the best educational interest of the student.”
She also urged administrators to “consider the value of on-line capacity developed in response to the pandemic” in crafting their curriculums this year.
Rosa stressed, however, that state officials “will not require schools that are open for full-time, in-person instruction to provide on-line or remote instruction” to students.
Some families and teachers union factions have called for the retention of a remote learning option for the upcoming school year.
Backers include City Council education chair Mark Treyger, who said the “DOE should offer a fall remote option for kids not of vaccination age” earlier this month.
Asserting that screen learning is inferior to in-person instruction and isolates kids, others have demanded an unrestrained return to classrooms.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has been adamant in proclaiming the end of widespread remote classes — but the emergence of the Delta variant has induced fresh parental jitters about the upcoming year.
“While the nature and extent of COVID-19 and its variants are still dynamic, it is essential that schools receive whatever guidance the Governor and the DOH intend to offer about the 2021-2022 school year as soon as possible …,” Rosa wrote in her letter to superintendents.
Parents and staffers have also been at odds over City Hall’s requirement of masks inside DOE schools in the fall.
Citing ongoing coronavirus concerns, some have backed the mandate and argued that the pandemic remains a threat inside classrooms.
Others have resisted the push, countering that COVID-19 cases in city schools were minimal last year and that masks hinder learning and socialization.
The DOE said that remote learning will only be available to a small number of kids.
“As we announced in May, we will welcome back all students in September and there will not be a remote option,” said spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon. “Our home instruction program, which benefits a small number of children who are medically unable to attend school, will continue as it did pre-pandemic and as always, we will work with families to tailor the instruction based on the medical needs of each child.”
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