New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday that the city’s schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year, but less than three hours later Gov. Andrew Cuomo contradicted that, saying the mayor lacks the authority to make such a decision.
“He didn’t close them, and he can’t reopen,” Cuomo said of the the vast school district that serves over 1.1 million students in 1,800 schools.
The governor said it was only the mayor’s “opinion” to keep schools closed until fall.
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.
De Blasio in announcing the continued closure earlier Saturday, said, “It’s not an easy decision but it’s the right decision,” the mayor said. “It clearly will help us save lives.”
Later, immediately following the governor’s announcement on schools at his press conference, the mayor’s press secretary tweeted, “The Governor’s reaction to us keeping schools closed is reminiscent of how he reacted when the Mayor called for a shelter in place. We were right then and we’re right now.”
To ensure all students can participate fully in online education, the city will provide about 240,000 internet-enabled devices by the end of April to students who need them, the mayor said.
“Distance learning is working more and more every day,” he said.
The city plans to reopen schools in September.
“The next school year has to be the best school year we’ve ever had because we are going to be playing catch up,” said de Blasio.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.
