STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday New York City schools will be shut down this week as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed three New Yorkers and infected over 700 others.

“NYC must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals they need,” he wrote on Twitter. “This action is necessary to reduce density and mitigate the spread of #COVID19.”

Sources told the New York Post that Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to shut them down.

The decision comes only hours after the president of the healthcare workers union, SIEU 1199, called for de Blasio to close New York City public schools. The mayor said last week the healthcare union’s previous suggestion to keep schools open impacted his decision making.

As pressure for de Blasio to close schools has ramped up in recent days — from both elected officials and city residents — the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) launched a Change.org petition encouraging the closure of New York City’s public schools. It garnered more than 75,000 signatures within a day’s time and currently has over 130,000 signatures.

NYC must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals they need.



NYC schools will close early this week.



This action is necessary to reduce density and mitigate the spread of #COVID19. — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 15, 2020

Cuomo said a child-care plan needs to be in place before schools are officially closed. “I said the New York City schools should close and must close. But in New York, it’s not as easy as just saying, close the schools," he said on CNN.

The decision comes after citywide school attendance plummeted late last week, the Advance/SiLive.com reported.

On Friday, Mar. 13, citywide public school attendance sat at just 68%, down 17 percentage points from Thursday’s 85% attendance across the system.

The drop in attendance was even more drastic for many Staten Island schools, with some registering attendances as low as 7.71% on Friday.

On Friday, New Dorp High School closed its campus after a student in the Hungerford School Program, which operates out of the building, tested positive for the disease.

A source told the Advance/SiLive.com that one student at I.S. 27 — Prall Intermediate School — tested positive for the coronavirus. The Department of Education sent a letter to parents at the school confirming that “a member of the I.S. 27 community has a positive test result for COVID-19.”

City teachers were also planning a “mass sickout” for Wednesday, Mar. 18, where droves of employees would call out sick to show their disapproval of the mayor’s initial decision, multiple teachers told the Advance/SiLive.com.

On Saturday afternoon, de Blasio said that, as of then, there was no change in the city’s plans to keep public schools open next week, which will ultimately be determined by “a day-by-day examination of all the facts.”

“I think we have a lot to balance, but I’m holding where we are right now,” de Blasio said during the Saturday afternoon press conference.

The mayor’s previous refusal to close public schools came after days of pressure from his fellow elected officials and the wider community for the closures in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the United Federation of Teachers and members of Staten Island’s delegation of elected officials have all called on the mayor to make the call to close the public schools. Parents and teachers have also urged the city to close schools.

DOE PREPARING FOR OFF-SITE SCHOOLWORK

The DOE previously said it is preparing additional educational resources for students in the event of school closures or students are forced to remain home due to illness or quarantine.

Citing concerns about student and staff safety and the need for preparation, the DOE has developed grade-level-specific instructional resources in English for students ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade. The supplementary learning resources are now available on the DOE website.

“The health and safety of our students and staff comes first, and it is our responsibility to be prepared for everything and for learning to continue. We have developed grade-level instructional resources for grades Pre-K through 12 so that our students can engage in educational material in the event that they need to be home from school," said DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson.

Due to the inconsistent availability of access to internet-enabled devices among the city’s student population, the work will not be graded, but rather used to prevent the loss of learning during a potential closure, according to the DOE.

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