New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Bill de BlasioThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - White House moves closer to Pelosi on virus relief bill New York again pushes back in-person classes The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Trump contradicts CDC director on vaccine, masks MORE (D) reportedly informed the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo Andrew CuomoNew York City bus driver knocked out by passenger he told to wear a mask 44 percent of high earners have considered leaving New York City: poll Media's anti-Trump coronavirus spin has real consequences MORE (D), of his decision to keep the city's schools closed for another month just minutes before the decision was publicly announced.

The New York Times reported Sunday that de Blasio informed a select few advisers including Dr. Anthony Fauci Anthony FauciOvernight Health Care: CDC reverses controversial testing guidance | Billions more could be needed for vaccine distribution | Study examines danger of in-flight COVID-19 transmission Trump claims enough COVID-19 vaccines will be ready for every American by April Gates says travel ban made COVID-19 worse in US MORE, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House coronavirus task force, the night before Saturday's announcement.

De Blasio reportedly texted Cuomo minutes before his announcement Saturday, after an attempt to reach the governor on the phone was unsuccessful.

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"After very careful consideration, I announce today that New York City public schools will remain closed for the remainder of this school year," the mayor went on to say in his announcement.

More than 9,300 deaths from coronavirus have been reported in New York state, the most of anywhere in the U.S. Nearly 189,000 cases have been confirmed in New York.

The breakdown in communication reportedly contributed to the dispute between the two state leaders over whether or not schools would remain closed: Under de Blasio's directive, schools in the city would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Cuomo disagreed later Saturday, telling reporters that "there has been no decision" made.

One city official told the Times that the governor's office only responded to the mayor's attempts to notify state leaders in Albany midway through the press conference.

“They said we couldn’t do it on our own,” the official said.

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A spokesperson for Cuomo told the Times in response that "decisions are not based on politics but based on data and science."

Decisions on school closures “will continue to be made on a regional basis which is acknowledged by all experts as the best governmental policy," the official added.

An official with de Blasio's office told The Hill on Sunday that the mayor's office made multiple attempts to coordinate with the governor before the public announcement was made. Any move to reopen the city's schools before the end of the year would require a new executive order by the governor.

"The Mayor knows that it is critical to the health and safety of our students, educators, and all New Yorkers that our schools remain closed," the mayor's deputy press secretary Jane Meyer added to The Hill in an emailed statement.

"It is also critical to the education of our children that teachers and families are able to plan, which is why we wanted to get the decision to them as soon as it was made. Making this decision now allows us to direct our focus on the two tasks ahead - providing the best remote learning experience we can and planning to welcome students back once this crisis subsides," Meyer added.