Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio
Bill de BlasioTrump stirs controversy with the latest race comments. Vandal throws red paint on the Black Lives Matter mural in front of the Trump Tower Coronavirus Report. WHO director advocates international unity in pandemic response MORE (D) said Thursday that the city will provide childcare to about 100,000 students as part of its planned partial reopening of schools this fall.
The city’s current reopening plan requires students to attend classes in person for only part of the week, with fully virtual learning two to three days per week. According to the calendar announced by Blasio, childcare will be available to all parents, regardless of their ability to pay, on remote days.
The mayor said the city will use “every conceivable space” for child care, including libraries, community centers and cultural organizations.
“We need to empower parents who need to return to work … child care will make all the difference in the world,” de Blasio said at his daily press conference on Thursday.
De Blasio said the city would tailor childcare offerings to different age groups, but cautioned that they were a work in progress.
“We are having to create something that did not exist before on this scale to accommodate a new need and a new reality,” he said.
The mayor had previously said that while the reopening of schools is “the most important part of reopening our city,” the school system is currently unable to reopen entirely with safe measures of social distancing, according to USA Today.
“When you think about social distancing, you need more space,” he said. “You are going to have fewer children in a classroom, fewer children in the school building.”
The plan comes as the White House is pushing for K-12 and higher education to fully reopen in the fall. Several districts, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Richmond, Virginia, have said they will continue fully digital classes, while Fairfax County, Virginia said it will postpone the start of the school year.
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