#Chirlane McCray now helming COVID-19 mental health program for schoolkids

First lady Chirlane McCray — creator of the billion-dollar-plus boondoggle ThriveNYC mental health initiative — has now been tasked with helping city schoolkids traumatized by the coronavirus pandemic transition back into classrooms.

“Social and emotional learning means creating a curriculum where learning those skills is just as important as learning how to read or learning how to do math,” McCray said during a City Hall presser Wednesday alongside her husband, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.

She said the “Bridge to School” program will expand training for school staffers to welcome back upended kids, while new curricula will help students ease back into in-person classes after the abrupt closure of schools in March.

The initiative is a natural progression from the Department of Education’s increasing focus on students’ social and emotional growth, McCray insisted.

“Social emotional learning has been championed by progressive educators all across the county,” she said, citing studies from Ivy League universities that have endorsed the approach.

But McCray, who has been criticized for a woeful lack of transparency in her beleaguered, $1.25 billion ThriveNYC program, was unable to detail any specific success stories of the approach in city schools.

“I have anecdotal information,” she said, before punting to Carranza.

The schools chief cited drops in suspensions, improved attendance figures and the addition of “mood meters” in city classrooms that students can use to describe their emotional state to teachers and staff.

Despite heavy union resistance, city schools are scheduled to reopen next month with a blended model that will have kids alternate days of home and classroom learning, unless their parents opt for a fully remote option.

The new mental health program will be “tailored to address the disruptions that we have confronted in the recent months,” Carranza said, while de Blasio added that it will be a priority to ensure kids have a smooth transition back into the classroom.

“From the very first day of school, the mental health needs of our kids and our school communities are going to be front and center,” Hizzoner said.

McCray has been entrusted with the task despite a troubling record of miscues at Thrive, which critics have long decried as a money pit that, while well-intentioned, has produced little in the way of tangible results.

She was also recently criticized for maintaining a $2 million staff while the city faces budget cuts and the possibility of mass layoffs amid the coronvirus’ resulting economic turmoil.