#Staten Island principal gives up on de Blasio’s learning plan

Tottenville High School is giving up on Mayor de Blasio’s blended learning plan, saying it will nix in-person classes and go 100% remote.

Gina Battista, principal of the 3,500-student Staten Island campus, sent a letter to parents on Saturday blaming her defiant decision on a teacher shortage.

“To execute the original plan of blended and remote learning, Tottenville High School would need an excess of additional teachers that is just not presently available,” Battista wrote.

“We have no choice but to implement virtual learning classrooms with in-person supervision,” Battista wrote, meaning kids can log on to classes while sitting in school.

“The outcome was never our intention, as our goal was to return to the classroom with in-person instruction at the beginning of this school year. We understand that students want to return to their daily school routine and as a community we are all heartbroken.”

Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza have been grappling for months with a shortage of thousands of teachers needed for both online and smaller, socially-distanced in-person classes. They have promised to bring on an army of office workers with teaching licenses, subs and graduate students to fill the gap.

But as late as Friday, de Blasio refused to give a number of teachers needed before in-person classes for grades K-12 start next week.

Staten Island City Councilman Joe Borrelli, who tweeted the letter, told The Post:

“The mayor and chancellor knew about this problem for months and couldn’t put it together. They left Tottenville high and dry.”

He added, “This is one of the largest schools in the city and I am sure we are only seeing problems here first that will trickle to other schools.”

One DOE insider said at least at least a dozen other schools in the system have also gone rogue — and scheduled all remote classes.