More than 100 school districts in New York could be blocked from reopening next month if they don’t submit detailed plans to the state by this Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Districts were supposed to file plans to safely reopen with the state by the end of last month, but 107 districts have yet to do so, Cuomo said.
“Maybe they just have determined that they don’t want to open, but if they think they’re going to open they have to have their plan in by Friday,” Cuomo said.
Some districts have also submitted plans that were either incomplete, or contained errors, Cuomo said. Those districts will be notified on how to cure those deficiencies.
But not all plans that have been submitted — more than 600 — have been approved by the state Department of Health. The agency is still sifting through those strategies to give them the green light.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said in an interview Friday that she’ll be watching to see how the agency evaluates those plans, and what goes into those decisions.
“I want to see what approval or disapproval looks like by the Health Department,” Mayer said. “We look forward to clarification on that.”
The schools that have yet to submit a plan for reopening appear to be spread across the state outside New York City, which has sent a second, revised plan for reopening to the state Department of Health.
And the districts that haven’t sent plans to the state vary in size, with some quite large. The school districts in the cities of Middletown, in Orange County, and Troy, in Rensselaer County, have yet to submit plans, according to the governor’s office.
Districts are supposed to be arranging a series of meetings with parents and teachers to be held over the next 10 days about their reopening plans. That obviously can’t happen if the district has yet to come up with one.
Cuomo said Friday that every school in New York would be allowed to welcome students, faculty, and staff back next month due to the state’s low infection rate. New guidelines have been put in place, and students still have the option to learn from home.
Here’s the full list of school districts that had yet to submit a reopening plan to the state, as of Monday afternoon:
Franklinville
Portville
Salamanca
West Valley
Broadalbin-Perth
Mayfield
Kendall
Argyle
Fort Ann
Hendrick Hudson
Bedford
Garrison
Carle Place
Elmont
Garden City
Lawrence
Locust Valley
Malverne
Manhasset
Mineola
New Hyde Park
Plainedge
Plainview
Syosset
Uniondale
Middletown
Valley-Montgmry
Camden
Oriskany
Utica
Waterville
Lake Pleasant
C-V At Ilion-Mohawk Csd
Van Hornsville
Carthage
Lyme
Newark Valley
Spencer Van Etten
George Jr Republic
Brentwood
Brookhaven-Comsewogue Ufsd
Deer Park
Longwood
Middle Country
Mount Sinai
North Babylon
Oysterponds
Remsenburg
Rocky Point
Sachem
Tuckahoe Common
Wainscott
Western Suffolk Boces
Arkport
Bradford
Corning
Hammondsport
Cooperstown
Richfield Springs Csd
Worcester
Odessa Montour
Peru
Johnsburg
Webster
Nyack
Sloan
Williamsville
Catskill
Windham Ashland
Edinburg Common Sd
Shenendehowa
Sagaponack
Cortland
Andes
Margaretville
Beacon
Poughkeepsie
Elmira
Victor
East Bloomfield
Geneva
Lewiston Porter
Pine Valley
