Schools and children

Saturday, August 22, 2020

DOE website alerts page: schools.nyc.gov/alerts

DOE website updated daily schools.nyc.gov

NYC Return to Schools webpage schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020

Schools in a given region can reopen in Phase Four, if the region's 14-day average daily infection rate is below 5 percent. Schools will be closed if the regional infection rate rises above 9%, using a 7-day average, after August 1.  NYS school reopening guidance for schools governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/Pre-K_to_Grade_12_Schools_MasterGuidence.pdf.

July 2020 New app: Learn at Home
This app is now available on all DOE-issued iPads. The?Learn at Home app supports students’ remote-learning needs. It gives parents, students, and staff the ability to stay connected and informed through quick access to student accounts, other learning apps and technical support. The app provides students with links to all the tools they need to attend class, complete assignments, and track their progress. The Learn at Home features can be accessed at schools.nyc.gov/learning/learn-at-home.

8/7/2020 The infection rate is below the threshholds, therefore all New York State school districts are permitted to open this fall. Whether your school will be in-person, remote, or a hybrid model, will be determined locally by each individual school district under strict Department of Health guidelines. All districts are required to submit a reopening plan, which will be reviewed by the state. School districts are required to engage all parties by having meetings with parents and staff.

Learning Bridges free child care schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enrollment-help/learning-bridges
As the New York City Department of Education resumes in-person schooling this fall, most schools and early childhood programs will operate on a blended learning model. This means that each week, students will have some school days in person, and some school days remotely.  Learning Bridges is a new program that will provide free child care options for children from 3-K through 8th grade on days when they are scheduled for remote learning. If you are interested in the Learning Bridges program, please complete this survey prek4all.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ac4kZNaIMaixbc9. 

The Learning Bridges programs will: 

  • Be operated by community-based organizations and other partners 
  • Provide opportunities for children to connect to their remote learning activities 
  • Include time for art, recreation, and other age-appropriate activities 
  • Follow the same rigorous health and safety precautions as schools 

You can complete the survey even if you do not yet know your child’s school schedule. The survey is meant to assess interest; this is not a formal application. More information will be shared by the Department of Education (children in 3-K and pre-K) or the Department of Youth & Community Development (children in grades K-8) about a potential placement in the coming weeks. Programs will become available on a rolling basis beginning at the start of school. You can also call 311 for support in completing the survey. 

CUNY Fall 2020 Update
7/10/2020 Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez announced that the City University of New York (CUNY) is preparing for a range of scenarios that combine in-person, virtual and hybrid instruction for the fall 2020 semester. So far, 48% of fall 2020 courses will be offered in a hybrid or online manner. Courses that are dependent on science labs and professional equipment, theater, performing and studio arts and clinical placements may be offered in-person. Letter from the Chancellor https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus.

July 2020 ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the US Department of Homeland Security) has rescinded their policy that would have required thousands of international students to be expelled from the country if their colleges were online-only in the fall. 

Information about school meals and remote learning: infohub.nyced.org/in-our-schools/operations/coronavirus-communications.

NYC vows to provide child care for 100K families to ease burden of part-time school schedules
July 16, 2020, ny.chalkbeat.org, by Christina Veiga
New York City is racing to make child care available to 100,000 families by the time classes kick off in September...The aim is to serve students from pre-K through eighth grade on the days they will not be in class, along with after-school care and specific programming for early childhood years. Programs are expected to take place in a variety of settings, from libraries to cultural institutions. Officials are turning to existing child care centers, after-school care programs, and community organizations...Officials said the expansion will cost the city at least $30 million a month. 

Summer School 2020
Remote summer school began on July 6. Over the next few weeks, students will use iLearnNYC, which has 13 language options for translation. For information about summer school for all students (elementary, middle and high school) visit schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/summer-school-2020.
Access iLearnNYC through TeachHub:

If you need technology support, you may contact the iLearnNYC helpdesk by calling 1-888-995-9866, Monday through Friday from 8am-8pm or Saturday through Sunday from 8am-5pm. You may also email iLearnNYCsupport@d2L.com.

5/22/2020 Gov. Cuomo announced summer school will be conducted through distance learning this year to help reduce the risk of spread. Meal programs and child care services for essential employees will continue. School districts must also develop a plan for students with disabilities who participate in extended summer school year programs over the summer to ensure they receive instruction. The state will make a determination on the fall semester and issue guidelines in June so schools and colleges can start to plan for a number of scenarios. K-12 schools and colleges will submit plans for approval to the state in July.

7/13/2020 The City’s Board of Health voted to reopen childcare in NYC on Monday, July 13.
This will apply to about 3,000 childcare programs in NYC with a capacity of around 150,000. Guidelines: limit group size to 15 children, classrooms must be changed to enable social distancing, face coverings required for children over 2 and adults, daily health screenings, frequent cleaning and disinfecting, limited sharing of toys and supplies. Checklist for Child Care Program Guidelines (PDF) www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/covid/businesses/covid-19-reopening-child-care-checklist.pdf, Reopening New York City: Frequently Asked Questions What Child Care Programs Need to Know (PDF) www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/covid/businesses/covid-19-child-care-reopening-faq.pdf.

Schools reopening

Source: Gov Cuomo's Press Conference 7/8/2020, Mayor de Blasio's Press Conference 7/8/2020

New York State

  • Everybody wants schools to open safely. The safety concerns are for the entire school community, students, teachers, staff. The state is also looking into HVAC filtration systems to make indoor activities safer. MERV13, 12, 11 filters take the virus out of air.
  • The State will issue guidance for the school districts by July 13.
  • School districts, private and charter schools must submit their plans to the State by July 31.
  • The State will decide the week of August 1-7 whether schools reopen, based on infection rates and what is going on.
  • There may be separate decisions on a regional basis and based on the school's plans.

Gov. Cuomo also responded to President Trump's tweets about withholding funding if schools don't completely reopen. Cuomo's response is that NY cannot be bullied ("Love works"). NY's education budget is $70 billion. $3 billion is from Federal sources.  NOTE: Schools are chartered by the State. The Governor has legal authority to say when schools can open.

New York City

NYC has largest school system in country. NYC submitted its plan in broad strokes. NYC will have blended learning, with students going in-person to school on alternate days, and remote learning on the other days. Parents can choose for their child to have fully-remote learning. There will be quarterly opportunities to change to fully-remote learning. In school, face coverings and social distancing are required. There will be nightly deep cleanings and cleanings during the day. All spaces will be used in school, including cafeterias, gyms, auditoriums, etc.

  • The first milestone is July 15, when the parent portal opens.
  • After that there will be info sessions.
  • August 7 will be the first deadline to decide on remote only education.

The city is working on providing child-care for working parents who can't supervise their kids during the day. Students with disabilities can get in-person instruction if wanted. Teachers and staff can apply for accommodations, if they have health issues, to work from home. Questions remain on what coronavirus testing policies may be in place, how an outbreak will be handled, and how child care will be handled for employees.

The City’s Dept. of Education has set up a Return to School 2020 page schools.nyc.gov/school-year-20-21/return-to-school-2020 with the latest updates on reopening public schools and specifics on hybrid learning and the first day of school. Chancellor Carranza also released a letter schools.nyc.gov/about-us/news/chancellor-s-message-for-families for NYC school families.

Department of Education (DOE) website schools.nyc.gov.

5/23/2020 Summer School: This year, the Department of Education (DOE) will offer summer school via remote learning. In addition to academic instruction, students participating in these summer school programs will have opportunities to go on self-paced virtual field trips and engage in daily social-emotional learning activities.

  • Students in grades 3-8 who are not promoted in June will be required to attend summer school. They will participate in six weeks of remote instruction from Monday, July 13 through Tuesday, August 18, 2020.
     
  • Students in grades 9-12 who receive a grade of Course in Progress, or who need to retake a course they have failed in a prior term, will participate in remote instruction for the course(s) in which they need to earn credit. Remote instruction will run from Monday, July 13 through Friday, August 21, 2020.
     
  • Students in all grades with 12-month Individualized Education Program (IEP) will participate in remote summer programming from Wednesday, July 1 through Thursday, August 13, 2020. All students who are receiving or are eligible to receive these services will be contacted by their school shortly.

5/23/2020 Pre-K Offers and Waitlists. Families with children born in 2016 can view and accept their child’s offer online with the MySchools portal https://www.myschools.nyc/en/. In addition to viewing and accepting their child’s offer, parents may see the waitlist their child is on, add their child to a waitlist, or check their child’s position on each waitlist. More information is available from the DOE’s website schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/pre-k

4/12/2020 New York City public school buildings are closed through the end of the term, according to Mayor de Blasio. The DOE commenced online learning on March 23 and will continue at least until June 26. All school trips are cancelled. The United Federation of Teachers announced that more than 40 current teachers and retirees had died due to the virus as of 4/11/2020. 5/4/2020 This has been confirmed by Gov. Cuomo.

5/3/2020 School board elections and budget votes statewide are delayed until June 9. The school board elections and budget votes will all be conducted by mail and all qualified voters will be sent an absentee ballot with return postage paid. (Source: Gov. Cuomo's email of 5/3/2020, Executive Order)

It’s official: NYC relaxes grading policies in wake of massive shift to remote learning
April 28, 2020, chalkbeat.org, by Alex Zimmerman and Christina Veiga
The new policy...takes into account that students may be experiencing trauma and have difficulties accessing online learning...For elementary school students, teachers will evaluate whether a student is “meeting standards” or “needs improvement,” based on writing samples, projects, or other assignments. The same procedure is in place for middle school students in grades 6-8 with one addition: They can also receive a “course in progress” [instead of a failing grade] on their report cards, which means they will automatically be enrolled in summer school...High school students will continue to receive normal letter grades, with the exception that no one will receive a failing grade. They will have the option to convert their grade to a “pass” rating, which would not affect their GPA...Many New York City middle and high schools admit students based on their academic records, but the pandemic has forced the city and state to suspend the most commonly used measures. Attendance no longer counts towards enrollment decisions, the state has canceled standardized tests, and now, traditional grades have been dramatically altered for students vying for competitive middle and high schools. The education department is still developing guidance on how the middle and high school admissions process will work, according to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.
Related: Chancellor Carranza's Message for Families schools.nyc.gov/learn-at-home/chancellor-s-message-for-families

4/24/2020 What The CARES Act Means For Your Student Loans: npr.org/2020/04/24/844048425/what-the-cares-act-means-for-your-student-loans.

5/3/2020 Face-to-Face Letters and Guidance for Sharing Records with Families: Face to Face Letters/Proof of Enrollment/Proof of Address During this time, when schools are not physically in session, the Human Resources Administration (HRA) will no longer require or ask for “face-to-face” letters as evidence of family composition letters from families who are applying for Cash Assistance (CA) or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Call 311 for further information, or log onto the DOE website if your family has an enrolled student.

5/3/2020 The Mayor and Schools Chancellor announced the launch of Let’s Learn NYC! schools.nyc.gov/learn-at-home/lets-learn-nyc, a new educational public television program produced by the WNET Group in partnership with the New York City Department of Education (DOE) featuring lessons for children in 3K through second grade that will supplement remote learning.

5/3/2020 Advancement Placement Exam Fees: In response to the unique challenges brought on by COVID-19, the DOE is extending coverage of AP exam fees for spring 2020 (including the late-testing window in June) to include all students. In prior years, the DOE has only covered the cost of AP exams for economically disadvantaged students. This year, the DOE will cover all base AP exam fees, which is the basic cost of the exam, and late order fees, while the College Board will waive all other fees, including canceled, unused, and late-testing fees. The College Board will not assess any fees for exams not taken in spring 2020. On March 20 the College Board announced it would be shifting all paper-based AP exams to online testing, which students may complete at home. A small number of AP courses will not have final online exams and will instead have a written paper or portfolio requirement that will be used to determine an exam score; a full list of exam offerings, testing schedule, and submission deadlines is available on the AP Coronavirus Updates page https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators.

4/21/2020 DCTV, the media arts center located in Chinatown, has put all its public programs online. You can take filmmaking classes, get tech advice in their Online Filmmaking Workshops and Office Hours-- and they're also streaming new documentary films via their Virtual Cinema. Their Youth Media students are creating personal video diaries of their lives under quarantine. If you know a NYC student 14-21 years of age who might be interested in participating, please check out DCTV's Youth Media programs. Visit dctvny.org to learn more and take part!

4/6/2020 The New York State Board of Regents is cancelling the High School Regents exams in June.
Emergency regulations from the Board of Regents: nysed.gov/news/2020/board-regents-acts-series-emergency-regulations-ease-burdens-educators-students-and-0

4/3/2020 Chancellor Richard A. Carranza announced that schools will continue with remote learning 4/9-4/17, originally scheduled for Spring Recess. Teachers can take days for religious holidays as their own personal time off.

Getting set up for remote (distance) learning

  • The NYC Dept. of Education (DOE) will prepare and DELIVER all devices to high school students, multilingual learners, students with disabilities, those who live in public housing. Others who have requested a device will be eligible to receive them after those deliveries have been made.
  • 5/3/2020 Launch of Remote Learning Technical Support Ticket System for Families: The DOE is launching a family-facing Remote Learning Technical Support ticket system schools.nyc.gov/learn-at-home/technical-tools-and-support/technical-support-for-families. Families (or someone on their behalf) can submit requests for technical support for a broad range of issues, including application support, lost, stolen, or broken devices, and delivery status, though the Technical Support for Families page. Note that when families select a topic and issue in the ticket submission form, the form will automatically list common resolutions to technical support problems; if the suggested resolutions do not resolve the family’s issue, they can continue to submit a tech support ticket by completing the form https://idm.nycenet.edu/remotelearningsupportticket/index.html. This family-facing system, and the DOE staff remote learning support ticket system, is intended to replace emails to the SchoolDevices@schools.nyc.gov inbox.
  • If you received an iPad from DOE, setup instructions are available at schools.nyc.gov/learn-at-home/ipad-distribution/getting-started-with-your-ipad. If you need help, contact Apple Support at support.apple.com or call 1-800-800-2775. If you have issues connecting the device to T-Mobile internet, visit t-mobile.com/support or call 1-800-375-1126.
  • If you already HAVE a device and need technical support, call 718-935-5100.

Remote learning resources and updates from NYC DOE: schools.nyc.gov

 

Additional details can be found at NYC Public School Closure Information.The Department of Education has said that absences due to coronavirus will be tracked separately, and will not affect academic standing. Parent teacher conferences will proceed virtually or by phone. Updated protocols schools are taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

Essential Resources Remote Learning Contact Sheet:  docs.google.com/document/d/1qqzfdBT2MsXO1MoxqxpiAHHxRwOpdlrULbSdCk0sKqc/edit

 

The Department of Education is setting up parentcoordinatornyc.connectwithkids.com as a resource for Parent Coordinators. Please send them your feedback on any additional information/resources that should be added.

4/6/2020 Homework help. Students can receive one-on-one free online homework help through the New York Public Library nypl.org/about/remote-resources/kids-and-teens/homework-help-brainfuse, daily from 2 – 11 pm, in English or Spanish, K-12. Families will need a New York Library card to access this service, and can apply for a free card at nypl.org/books-music-movies/ebookcentral/simplye.

All parents must create a New York City Schools account for their children to access remote learning. You can sign up at this link: schools.nyc.gov/learning/in-our-classrooms/nyc-schools-account.

Remote Learning Portal schools.nyc.gov/learn-at-home/technical-tools-and-support/remote-learning-portal a landing page for students and teachers with secure links to online learning platforms. Students and families should log in with their student account. If you need help with a student account, contact your child’s school.

Department of Education devices survey. The Department of Education is asking families to complete a survey sharing their best contact information over the next few weeks as well as whether they have access to a smartphone, a laptop/tablet/computer, the internet, or none of the above. Devices will be loaned to students who need a device (1 per student.) Take the official DOE learning devices survey. The DOE will use the c