#Mark Richard Carranza ‘tardy’ on planning fall restart for NYC schools

Enlarge Image

NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza
Matthew McDermott

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza hinted Tuesday that he and his aides are hammering out a plan to restart schools in September. Better late than never, we guess, yet the tardiness is appalling.

In a letter to Department of Education staff, the schools boss laid out steps he’s considering to kick off the academic year, including possible phased start dates and a hybrid online/in-class learning program.

Schools may start the year on different dates. Students’ own schedules may vary, starting and ending the day at different hours; class periods may not all finish at same time. Some would get online instruction certain days while others are in school — and switch on other days.

That makes some sense and suggests Carranza & Co. are at least starting to think about reopening schools, as the Manhattan Institute’s Ray Domanico and others have warned in The Post they must.

The system and its leaders “have an obligation to be prepared for whatever form of learning will take place next year,” Domanico wrote. By September, they “must have in place a working remote-learning platform” — as opposed to the current system, which can’t even determine how many kids are actually learning.

Domanico also predicted the city would need a hybrid system to allow for social distancing, noting that some kids do fine learning remotely. Yet the goal ought be to get as many kids back in class as possible, while protecting their health and safety, since, as Karol Markowicz has argued, that’s necessary to let parents return to jobs outside their homes.

In any case, given the importance of working schools, it’s appalling that Carranza doesn’t already have at least a draft plan, even one with contingencies for dealing with the coronavirus.

Ultimately, Gov. Andrew Cuomo must sign off on plans and reopening dates, but time is of the essence: Parents and kids need to plan ahead. Unlike, it seems, Carranza & Co.