School reopening requires putting in place policies, procedures and financing to enable schools to return to operations safely while ensuring learning and recovery from lost learning, well-being and protection, and promoting equity of access. It also means developing multilayered mitigation strategies that reduce the risk of in-school transmission. This research brief draws lessons from the largest district in the country, which has, with some interruptions, maintained in-person instruction for students since late September 2020.
New York City has developed comprehensive reopening plans that have included extensive resources for viral testing and multiple layers of mitigation. While its thresholds for closing and policies around hybrid scheduling have shifted over time, the department has remained committed to implementing these measures.
The plan includes a robust system for communicating with families and educators, which is updated daily. Prior to reopening, every family completed a survey on their learning preferences and subsequently could shift between in-person or remote instruction. Students opted to attend classroom-based instruction in the majority of high schools; elementary and special needs students with significant disabilities received hybrid instruction.
Educators were required to participate in the surveillance testing program, with a random 20% of students and staff tested each week using a short nasal swab for molecular testing (the results are available within three days). To support these efforts, the department recruited and trained the NYC Test & Trace Corps, which operates as a dedicated team of contact tracers whose mission is to identify student-to-student, teacher-to-student, and staff-to-staff transmission.