School reopening involves putting in place policies, procedures and financing to enable safe school operations. This may include negotiating the optimal lease and selecting the best building for your school, as well as developing curriculum and hiring staff. It also includes planning for how your students, teachers and community will engage with the school. Involving people early in the process can help you design a school that best meets their educational priorities.
New York City provides a lesson in how comprehensive, carefully designed and rigorously implemented mitigation strategies can support the return of students to classrooms. NYC’s extensive resources and coordination enabled it to track and respond quickly to transmission within schools, minimizing disruption and increasing confidence in the safety of in-person instruction. The department’s multilayered approach to contact tracing, balancing the need for isolation with a robust plan to keep schools open, has helped to foster a sense of trust among families, educators, and department officials.
The reopening process in NYC began with a survey that allowed families to indicate their preference for in-person or remote learning. The results of the survey guided decision-making about how to proceed and, by March 8, 2021, 61 buildings (3.1% of the department’s 1,606) were closed for 10 days based on strict classroom quarantine protocols and short-term 24-hour building closures (triggered by two cases in classrooms for which a link could not be established). The remainder of buildings remained open, and families who preferred to remain in person could shift to hybrid learning at any time.