The New York City Department of Education has updated its attendance policy to give educators discretion on allowing students to learn remotely during the current COVID surge, and to count those students as present for attendance purposes – a possible sign of movement towards a remote option for all students.
The policy update appeared online Friday afternoon without any formal announcement, a day after Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged the school system is considering a remote option.
The change follows growing protest over Adams’ refusal to entertain the notion and a sharp decline in student attendance since COVID cases surged over the winter holidays.
Attendance was 77.09% across the system Thursday, meaning more than 214,800 students out of the system’s 938,000 students missed class. In pre-pandemic times, attendance averaged 91% across the system for the 2019 school year.
