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Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday the city will update its controversial COVID-19 school closure rules next week — and that 65,000 Department of Education staffers have now been vaccinated.
Speaking on WNYC, de Blasio said the closure format — which has temporarily shuttered hundreds of city schools at various points this year — is likely to change.
“Next week we’ll have an update on the two-case rule, we’re doing a little more work with our health team on the right way to approach things, but we will have an update on that next week,” he said.
Parents have complained that the protocols — which temporarily close schools with two or more unrelated cases for up to two weeks — are highly disruptive.
On Thursday, 184 city school buildings were closed due to the system.
Those opposed to the current approach argue that it was conceived at the height of the pandemic and that improved infection rates and the introduction of vaccines warrant a new evaluation.
Mayor Bill de Blasio (left) and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter greet students arriving at Phyl’s Academy. Mark Lennihan/APThe city teachers union has been reluctant to lift the two-case closure rule, arguing that the pandemic has not yet been fully subdued and calling for continued caution.
Meanwhile, de Blasio reported Friday that 65,000 DOE staffers — including teachers and other employees — have received vaccines.
“I do think a lot of families are looking at the current situation, they see how safe the schools have been, we want to get them all the information possible,” de Blasio said.
Those who back the reopening of schools assert that vaccinated teachers should be compelled to return to their classrooms.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said 65,000 Department of Education staff members have been vaccinated. Mark Lennihan/AP, PoolRoughly 70 percent of kids in the nation’s largest school system are still learning on a fully remote basis.
The DOE is currently offering families an opportunity to enroll their children in the blended learning format that has them alternate between home and school buildings.
Roughly 25,000 have made that decision thus far, according to the DOE.
A separate group of parents has retained an attorney who is preparing to file suit against the city in order to force the full reopening of schools.
The coalition has already raised more than $11,000 to help fund the impending legal push and has tapped lawyer James Mermigis to handle their case.
Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks to the media at the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at Citi Field. Ron Adar/Sipa USA via APMermigis has been active in other suits related to coronavirus-related shutdowns and told The Post this week that he expects to file the case against the DOE next week.





