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Breaking News

New York City coronavirus rate stays below school-closing threshold, for now

ASSOCIATED PRESS
                                West Brooklyn Community High School principal Malk Lewis explains a concept during a combination current events/trivia quiz and pizza party Thursday in New York. The high school caters to students who haven’t done well elsewhere, giving them a chance to graduate and succeed. On Thursday, Lewis decided to hold the quiz/pizza party to reward the nine students of a possible 58 students under a blended learning program. In normal times, the school can accomodate over 200 students, but with the coronavirus, they’re limited to 58.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

West Brooklyn Community High School principal Malk Lewis explains a concept during a combination current events/trivia quiz and pizza party Thursday in New York. The high school caters to students who haven’t done well elsewhere, giving them a chance to graduate and succeed. On Thursday, Lewis decided to hold the quiz/pizza party to reward the nine students of a possible 58 students under a blended learning program. In normal times, the school can accomodate over 200 students, but with the coronavirus, they’re limited to 58.

NEW YORK >> New York City’s coronavirus test results have not reached the level that would trigger a shutdown of public school buildings, so schools will remain open for now, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.

“Thankfully, schools will remain open on Monday, but we have to keep fighting back with everything we’ve got,” de Blasio said on Twitter.

De Blasio had warned Friday that schools could close as soon as Monday if the city crossed the threshold set earlier of 3% of coronavirus tests citywide coming back positive over a seven-day period. The rate stayed short of that on Sunday, at 2.57%, he said.

“We have a struggle ahead right now, I’m not going to lie to you,” the mayor told worshipers at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn, ” but I do want to let you know schools is open tomorrow, and that’s a blessing. And every additional day school is open is a blessing.”

New York City’s public school system, by far the nation’s largest with more than a million students, was one of few big-city districts to reopen classrooms this fall after the pandemic forced schools across the United States online in the spring.

Parents were given a choice of all-remote instruction or a “blended learning” system with students in class some days and learning online the other days.

About 280,000 students have attended in person, fewer than city officials had expected.

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