'Last Chance' Next Week For NYC In-Person Learning, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — In-person students expected to return to New York City classrooms next week need to show up or else lose their seats, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

De Blasio on Wednesday pleaded with parents of elementary, 3-K and pre-K students slated to go back to school buildings to fill out coronavirus testing consent forms.

He also warned those students will be shifted to all-remote learning if they don't show up to class without a legitimate excuse.

"It all hinges on this: parents, next week if you're in one of those school that's open, your child is expected to be in school on the days that they are programmed to be in school," he said. "If in the course of your week... your child doesn't show, what the school is going to say to you is this is your 'last chance.'"

Public schools will reopen Dec. 7 to roughly 190,000 in-person students after a weeks-long shutdown after the city's average coronavirus positivity rate creeped above 3 percent.

De Blasio and school officials recently unveiled a reopening plan that requires in-person students to agree to COVID-19 testing.

They also said that an as-yet-undetermined number of school buildings will be able to offer five days of in-person classes for students.

But how many has been complicated by the fact that many parents who signed their children up for in-person classes largely kept them out of school buildings.

De Blasio said next week is an opportunity for parents to make their intentions clear.

"You can’t be betwixt and between — you have to choose,” he said.

"These seats are precious, kids need these seats. These seats should not be unutilized,” he said.

The return plan also requires 20 percent of every school's in-person population to be randomly tested for COVID-19 each week.

Parents must fill out a consent form for their children or else they can't return to classes. They can do so by their New York City Schools Account (NYCSA) at mystudent.nyc or they can print and sign the form and bring it to school on their first day back to buildings.