SEE: Mayor Tours Bed-Stuy School Readying For In-Person Reopening

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A Bed-Stuy school readying to welcome students back for in-person classes got the stamp of approval this week from Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's school chief, who toured the building as part of a series of tours to prepare for the new year.

"This is exactly what we want to see all over the city," de Blasio told school officials Wednesday. "You're not going to find better examples of what a school should look like and should offer than what you saw on this tour."

The mayor, Chancellor Richard Carranza and other officials stopped by P.S. 59 William Floyd elementary school just days after their administration delayed the return of in-person classes after teachers threatened a strike for the original Sept. 10 start date.

The new start date, Sept. 21, aims to give more time for schools to prepare for returning to classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For P.S. 59, at least, that will mean finishing touches on teaching staff, parents and students about remote learning platforms, Principal Cherry-Ann Joseph-Hislop said.

"It's just giving us time to get the curriculum and the internet platform ready for learners," Joseph-Hislop said.

About 60 percent of the school's families chose to stick with full-time remote learning, meaning the school will have room to welcome the other 40 percent back for in-person classes five days a week.

The set-up is unique from many of New York City's schools, where students who chose to return to school buildings will switch between in-person classes and remote learning throughout the week to allow for social distancing. Across the five boroughs, about 37 percent of students chose to stick with full-time remote learning.

P.S. 59 is among the majority of New York City's 1,500 school buildings that have gotten the OK from city officials during a round of safety inspections.

Carranza said Wednesday that all 1,500 inspections were scheduled to be completed by the end of the day and that so far, only a "very small list" will need to make changes before the Sept. 21 start date.

At P.S. 59, classrooms typically meant for as many as 24 kids were set up for classes of about nine students.

Hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment, the use of "electrostatic cleaning" machines and other safety measures have also been put in place at the school, officials said.

"In terms of our building, we've passed all the inspections, the building has been approved and we're ready to go," the principal said.

P.S. 59 is also among 300 or so schools that have been approved, as of this week, to use outdoor space for classes to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The elementary school plans to use its backyard playground for physical education classes and explore using it for other subjects, Joseph-Hislop said.

De Blasio gave the OK just last week for New York City's schools to submit applications for using outdoor learning space after weeks of calls from school and elected officials to do so.

Public school staff are scheduled to make final preparations for starting school Sept. 10, 11, 14 and 15 before entering a three-day "transitional period" on Sept. 16, when all instruction will be remote, de Blasio said.

In-person classroom instruction will begin Sept. 21 under the much-discussed "blended learning" model.