#Comptroller Stringer rips NYC DOE, de Blasio on school reopening plans

The Department of Education gets an F for its planning ahead of the new school year, city Comptroller Scott Stringer said Thursday in a scathing letter to city officials.

“While I can appreciate the complexities involved in making many of these decisions, there is no good reason why planning and preparation for the fall – as well as communication with parents and staff – is not more advanced,” Stringer wrote to Mayor Bill de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.

To maintain social distancing, the Department of Education has broached the likelihood of staggered classes in September, with groups of students alternating between remote learning and in-person instruction.

But beyond that, increasingly frustrated parents say they’re operating in the dark with the opening bell set to ring in just 76 days.

“Parents, for instance, have no idea what days their children will be at school and what days they will be at home, much less what the school-day hours will be,” Stringer wrote. “Teachers have yet to be told what their class structures will look like, or when they should report to work.”

While Stringer said he was “humbled and amazed” by the transition of school staffers to remote learning amid the coronavirus crisis, he demanded increased DOE transparency and specificity on the practice moving forward.

The department tasked individual principals with crafting their own remote learning programs.

While many teachers continued live teaching on video conferencing apps, parents across the city complained that their kids had little to no engagement with their teachers or peers since the system’s March closure.

“What seems obvious is that in the absence of a citywide standards for remote learning, there have been deep disparities in the quality and quantity of remote, synchronous instruction across schools,” Stringer wrote. “Meanwhile, families that have been guiding their children in remote learning for months have grown frustrated, uncertain how to help as their children disengage, or even regress academically.”

Stringer submitted a list of 18 questions he wanted answered by July 3 to help parents prepare for what awaits.

Among them, he requested a summary of specific staggered class proposals.

“For parents – especially those who work on an hourly basis and depend upon predictable schedules to make a living – this is vital information,” he wrote

Stringer also pressed for hard data on student interaction during remote learning and details on any DOE plans for system-wide standards for the practice.

In addition, the comptroller requested information on how many students have internet access, details on teachers’ professional development, and timely budget numbers for administrators.

“It is impossible for principals to plan for all these eventualities without a concrete budget that informs how much they can spend on staff and other critical school resources,” he wrote.

The DOE has stressed that ever-shifting coronavirus trends and advisories have made it difficult to plan for next year.

De Blasio earlier this week brushed off the concerns of public school parents who are worried about the effect of coronavirus restrictions on their kids’ education.

“Folks are smart, they understand we’re still dealing with a lot of unknowns,” de Blasio said Tuesday.