Many preschools made the decision to cancel summer programs and reopen in the fall, leaving parents to make other arrangements.
Photo: jason szenes/EPA/ShutterstockThousands of New York City child-care facilities could reopen as early as next week under a measure approved by the city’s Board of Health on Tuesday, bringing relief to struggling parents but also putting some providers in a tough spot.
In April, in response to a surge of cases of the new coronavirus, the board temporarily closed most city-licensed child-care facilities and preschools that serve small children.
Facilities that remained open to serve essential workers didn’t have outbreaks or ongoing transmission of the disease, said health commissioner Oxiris Barbot. However, there were sporadic cases, she said.
Now that the transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19 has slowed in New York City and a testing and tracing program is well-established, city health officials said child-care centers could open as soon as Monday, so that parents won’t have to continue to rely on informal child-care arrangements to return to work. If there is a case of Covid-19 in a classroom, according to officials, children and adults would be treated as close contacts and directed to stay home for 14 days.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference on Tuesday that the board’s approval of the measure means as many as 3,000 child-care facilities could come online next week. However, facilities won’t be required to open and will be based on the decision of a provider.
New York state health officials recently released rules for reopening child-care centers, which limit a group size to 15 children, require providers to maintain stable groups of children and mandate adults to wear masks, among other measures.
The move came as a surprise, some child-care operators said. While child-care facilities aren’t required to reopen next week, parents are going to want answers if they aren’t reopening, said Anna Siegal, the executive director of Red Hook Playgroup, a Brooklyn preschool for children ages 2 to 6. The fear some operators have is if they don’t reopen, then parents may begin looking for care elsewhere, she said.
Ms. Siegal said many child-care operators and preschools had been asking the city for weeks to allow for a reopening, with some presenting proposals that included a request for a longer window to prepare for a reopening, said Ms. Siegal.
Ms. Siegal said her preschool and many others made the decision to cancel summer programs and reopen in the fall. Like many other preschools, her teachers have relocated all over the country, she said. Training on the new protocols can’t happen overnight.
Schools want to reopen, said Ms. Siegal, but “can’t be forced to reopen in a way that isn’t safe.”
The reopening of child-care facilities is a potentially helpful measure for struggling parents.
Photo: johannes eisele/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAlex Marchuk, executive director of Learn and Explore Preschool in Brooklyn, has been operating his preschool at partial capacity for months, serving essential workers. He said that with the proper protocols, children and families have remained healthy. Day-cares and preschools that have been operating the past few months are in a “new normal” now, he said.
“Parents need to go back to work and rely on credible child care,” Mr. Marchuk said. “The kids are having a fantastic time. I feel bad for those children that haven’t been experiencing a structured setting.”
Write to Melanie Grayce West at melanie.west@wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
"care" - Google News
July 08, 2020 at 06:42AM
https://ift.tt/38Cj2W4
Thousands of New York City Child-Care Facilities Could Reopen Next Week - The Wall Street Journal
"care" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2N6arSB
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Thousands of New York City Child-Care Facilities Could Reopen Next Week - The Wall Street Journal"
Post a Comment