‘There needs to be more support’: City parents say return to in-person learning has been unstable

Many New York City children began school in person Monday, despite parents’ ongoing concerns if schools are actually ready to reopen.

News 12 Staff

Sep 22, 2020, 2:55 AM

Updated 1,541 days ago

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Many New York City children began school in person Monday, despite parents’ ongoing concerns if schools are actually ready to reopen.
While the majority of students in the city started the school year from home, children in pre-K and those with advanced disabilities started going back to classrooms.
While District 75 parent Celia Green says she's grateful for the involvement she's had at the school her 16-year-old son who has autism attends, that's not the case for most parents.
"There's a lot of schools that parent leadership was not invited to do any of the walk-throughs, they get information, but it is later rather than sooner, and rather than being at the table when some of the decisions are made, they are left out," she says.
Green adds that's not the only concern.
"I think there needs to be better communication with the parents, I think there needs to be more support, I think there has been one of the biggest issues has been a language issue,” Green says. “Documents should be turned over in as many languages as the DOE can.”
She says not only are parents receiving communications in languages they don't understand, but some aren't receiving anything at all, because not all families have internet access.
She believes many schools across the city still have a lot of work to do to support students and their families during this difficult time. And that students shouldn't be brought back into the buildings until they're ready.
"There are phenomenal pockets of greatness but, again…we need every school to be a great school," Green says.
Green does say she's optimistic that the problems the city has been seeing will cause policy change within the Department of Education and prevent these issues from occurring again in the future.