Hadley Seward was planning to wait until January to decide on whether to send her son Alex back to school in person. Now, she has to make a decision by November 15.

“It feels like we have whiplash from the back and forth that’s been going on since August. I personally feel demoralized and exhausted by the whole process, and yesterday's announcement just felt a little bit like a slap in the face to me,” she said.

 

What You Need To Know

  • Parents will be have only one chance to opt in to blended learning, from Nov. 2 to Nov. 15

  • The city had previously promised parents they would have multiple chances to opt in throughout the school year

  • Many parents feel it is unfair they must have their children either return to class in December or not at all through June

 

For months, Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza promised parents who enrolled their children in all-remote instruction they would have multiple chances to switch to blended learning, in which students attend school in person part of each week. 

But Monday, de Blasio said they would now get only one chance, and if they didn’t take it by November 15, their children would have to remain at home through June.

“We’re really torn between putting him in school right now. We’re not super comfortable with that, but the alternative seems to be he goes a total of 18 months with no person schooling, when you take into account spring as well, so it’s a really, really tough choice,” Seward said.

But the mayor said parents should be able to make a decision by his deadline.

“Parents now have gotten to see the school year in action. They've gotten to see how safe it is. It's time to make some decisions,” de Blasio said Tuesday.

But those decisions will now be made as cases in the city are increasing, and amid worries holiday travel and gatherings could spread the virus further. 

Seward said whether to send her first grader to class will be a tough call for her family, and many others.

“I almost feel like I’m being bullied into making a decision and that is very uncomfortable as a parent, to feel like you’re being given two terrible choices and you have to pick one,” she said.

She’s not alone. Marcia Flores lives in Elmhurst, and was hard-hit by the pandemic last spring. Her kindergartener daughter, Raquel, has been learning remotely. Flores, too, had been hoping to reconsider her options in January.

“The misinformation, the constant last minute of the implementation of the plans that they have without seemingly consulting the parents on the ground seems so callous when we’ve dealt with so many things already,” Flores said of what parents have faced so far.

But there’s one upside to the constant changes in school policy: Flores has hope that they could change yet again, for the better.

“We’re hoping maybe that with some sort of advocacy or some sort of fact-based information to kind of base these things on that we can see a change,” she said.