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Staff Reports
Sometime this week — that’s when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will announce a decision on whether schools will re-open before the end of the academic year.
“We’ll have a decision the end of this week, what we’re going to do on schools, and then on summer schools,” Cuomo said, speaking Tuesday from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
“The state emergency powers govern over the 700 school districts. So whatever we do will be binding on the school districts.”
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, schools will remain closed until May 15. Schools in Suffolk County have been closed since County Executive Steve Bellone ordered them shut as of Monday, March 16. Cuomo quickly followed suit and ordered the shutdown of schools in the state’s 700 school districts.
Students — along with their parents and guardians — have since transitioned to a remote learning model.
President Donald Trump urged governors, including Cuomo, during a Tuesday conference call to reopen schools before summer break.
Cuomo noted that New York, with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the nation, faces a much different situation than the other states across the country.
Cuomo reported that 335 had died in the last day from COVID-19, slightly down from the previous day’s total of 337.
The state’s death toll from coronavirus is now more than 17,600.
