Blas Finds Some School Sense

Mayor de Blasio’s latest turnaround on school closures seems a plus — but the chaos has left many parents frustrated, furious and downright dizzy.

After abruptly closing schools Nov. 19 because the citywide positivity rate hit 3 percent, de Blasio is abandoning that metric. Now, he aims to keep schools open regardless of what happens citywide. He’ll test 20 percent of in-school students weekly and close buildings on a school-by-school basis.

His plan for reopening now looks much like what Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council Education Committee Chairman Mark Treyger proposed weeks ago. It starts next Monday, Dec. 7, as preschoolers and K-5 students go back. Three days later, special-ed kids at all grade levels attending District 75 schools return.

De Blasio has no timeline yet for bringing back middle and high schoolers, but he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota it’s unlikely before January. At least those older kids are better suited to remote learning.

Better: He says he sees lower grades returning to the classroom full time, five-daysa-week, soon. And he’s talking about offering parents another chance to switch from full remote to in-person learning.

Williams is (quite rightly) not satisfied, saying the city can’t wait for the mayor “to come to the right conclusions at the wrong moments in time.”

Students, parents, teachers and principals all deserve city leadership better than this.