About 190,000 students are returning to classrooms for in-person learning Monday following a two-week citywide school shutdown.

The reopening will follow a phased-in approach, with 3-K, pre-K and kindergarten through fifth grade students being the first at bat.

In an exclusive interview, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza told NY1 that the city has revamped its approach to school reopenings, including what would warrant a shutdown.

“There isn’t a threshold,” Carranza said.

“What we’ve done is, we’ve taken these two weeks that we’ve paused in-person to really reset all of the metrics again,” he explained. “The coronavirus, the way its evolved, there’s always new facets of information. So we’ve reset our protocols, we’ve aligned with what the state is doing with their zones and the color-coded zones.”

Last month, school buildings were shut citywide when coronavirus cases in New York City surpassed a 3% infection rate based on a seven-day rolling average — a metric that the mayor had set last summer as the switch for closing classroom doors.

The city’s new approach will allow for more precise monitoring of each school.

“It’s much more nuance, and we feel that we can actually target any particular school or school community in a much more targeted way than we could back in September and August,” Carranza said.

Students reporting for in-person learning Monday must have completed testing consent forms.

Carranza defended the decision to reopen schools, saying the city has proven it can do so in a safe manner.

“Back in July and August, when we were talking about in-person, there was a lot of skepticism that we could do it safely. We’ve proven that we can do so safely, and parents want that for their children. So that’s why we’ve been working night and day to make sure we can get students back in person,” he said.

Carranza said the goal is to have as many students as possible reporting to school for as many weekdays as possible. While some schools can host each student five days a week, others with large student populations must stagger days as they don’t have enough room to do so safely.

Though middle and high school students are not heading back to the classroom just yet, the plan is to have them back to school at the start of the new year. These students will be phased-in later because the city needs the capacity to accommodate for testing and other new protocols.

Younger students were prioritized, based on how in-person learning is seen as even more critical in the early years. 

The schools chancellor said colleagues from across the country and world have been inquiring daily about the city’s approach to schools.

“New York City is leading the country and the world in educating students during the pandemic. And I think that at the end of the day that’s going to be something that we’re all going to be very proud of — tired, and in some cases very frustrated — but very proud of the fact that we’re able to do it, and keep our students and those that serve our students safe.”