NYC students who don’t show in person next week risk losing in-school spot for the year
![NYC students who don’t show in person next week risk losing in-school spot for the year](https://thenewyorkmail.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1-4.jpg)
Use it or lose it.
That’s Mayor de Blasio’s stern message to city families signed up to return to in-person classes when some city schools reopen next week.
“You have to show up in the course of this week or have a legitimate excuse or communicate with your school what’s going on,” Hizzoner said in a Wednesday morning press conference. “If you don’t, your school is going to let you know your child is going to be moved to all remote.”
![Mayor de Blasio after visiting New Bridges Elementary School in Brooklyn in August as it prepared to open for the school year.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/opAvfum0EriDnLh7vuneu4W6mKA=/800x533/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/B74FXDWBFUAJSI73MI3MK5SGGQ.jpg)
City officials say the strict line in the sand is meant to help schools get a final number for in-person students for the remainder of the year so they can quickly begin expanding the number of school days for kids enrolled in in-person classes.
“These seats are precious…a seat should not go unutilized,” de Blasio warned.
![Nov. 30, 2020: Phased-in restart on Dec. 7 with weekly COVID tests.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/zkBTfJ8iRLsc3xt9KF8xgWo120A=/415x544/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/UG2TFO57HBFYHKZQP33S6CTJ54.jpg)
The strict attendance rules come on top of a decision in late October to limit the number of opportunities families have to switch from remote to in-person school — a move officials said was necessary to stabilize enrollment numbers.
Despite officials’ assurances that schools are moving towards five days a week of in-person classes, some students are still scheduled for just one day a week of in-person class. That raises the possibility that a student could lose an in-person spot for the rest of the year for missing just one day of class without explanation.
An Education Department spokeswoman clarified that the city has publicized the one-week attendance window for more than a month, and said absences for reasons including “quarantining … looking after a sick relative, or caring for a sibling … are not reasons to move a student to remote.”
Hizzoner said Wednesday the city is well within its rights to crack down.
“School has been open for months. If a child hasn’t shown up or only shown up very occasionally…it’s right to say to the parent as a matter of personal responsibility and respect for all other kids, ‘are you going to use this seat or not?’”