New York City parents hailed the decision Sunday to close the public schools — but were furious at Mayor Bill de Blasio for taking so long to make the move.
“The governor, I guess, talked some sense into the mayor and convinced him,” said a dad of two public-school kids on Staten Island to The Post — referring to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement earlier in the afternoon that city schools were closing, pre-empting de Blasio’s press conference.
“How can you close all these sporting events and not close schools? [The mayor] is totally inconsistent,” said the man, who only identified himself as Kevin and has a daughter at PS 3 and another at IS 7. “My wife is a teacher, too. She is not a big fan at all.
“They’re livid,” he said of teachers about de Blasio. “And they don’t think they’re getting the right information. It’s chaos.“
Another dad of two boys in the system added that the mayor “should have done it sooner.
“We were planning on taking kids out tomorrow anyway, with Nassau and Suffolk closing,” said the man, Jim, of Battery Park in Manhattan, referring to both public and private schools closing across Long Island.
“No choice, can’t take the chance. Now we have to figure out how to get their school plans, etc. Going to be a ton of fun.
“It’s been stressful just not knowing or knowing it was coming but not sure when. It was inevitable. Delays didn’t do anything to help,” said Jim, whose boys attend PS 343.
“I watched de Blasio this morning saying he we was keeping open schools as long as possible. I understand his rationale, a lot of schoolkids’ parents work in hospitals. But like my wife pointed out, almost every other city is dealing with the same.”
Fred Mwangaguhunga, a Tribeca parent of triplets who attend PS 234, added, “I’m happy that Cuomo had the guts to pull the trigger. I think it’s shameful what de Blasio was doing.”
A Manhattan special-education teacher lamented, “Special-ed kids cannot learn online. It’s very sad and shows the complete breakdown in our — the biggest public school in the country’s — system.
“These kids are most affected,” she said.
“If we had [better] notice, teachers would have started making packets for them in order to take home. I’ve already started hearing from parents. They don’t have books to read with their children or means to get.
“Had we had notice, I could have copied books and workbooks for every student.”
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