Cuomo Says: “Back to School in September!”

Nothing has been more disruptive during the pandemic than our education system.  Practically learning as we go, schools have been teaching in a fully remote design, alternating between in person and online education, hybrid classes, school closings during Covid outbreaks, and other scenarios unheard of a little more than a year ago.

Now, it seems, we can look forward to a return to the "good old days" of going back to the classroom full time in September.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that starting this fall, all New York State schools can fully reopen to in person teaching.  This is due to the dramatic decrease in Covid-19 and the almost universal positive numbers in thwarting the increase of cases.

“I think there’s no reason why every school shouldn’t be open in September," Cuomo said according to Spectrum News during a stop on Long Island to promote vaccinations. "The remote learning sounds fine and worked fine enough for some students. Some students paid a very heavy price."

Statewide, New York's COVID-19 rate continues to fall. It now stands at 0.90% over the last seven days on average. Cuomo also announced 44.1% of all New Yorkers have completed the COVID-19 vaccination series.

We welcome this return to students at desks and teachers conducting classes in person.  Although remote learning was something that had never been tried before, it became a reality because of necessity during the pandemic.  Still, there is no substitute for the in-person interaction between teacher and student and we think this is a good move.

Thanks to all teachers and students who adapted so well during the difficult year of pandemic.