New York City’s public schools should only reopen this fall for the youngest students to attend class in-person, as well as for kids who need special services or the stability and sanctuary of school, according to a proposal from the City Council’s Education Committee Chair, suggesting most high schoolers should engage in full-time remote learning since they'll need less supervision.

“With limited classroom space, access to in-person instruction should be prioritized for those students whose academic and developmental progress is most dependent on the social environment and consistency of in-person education,” Councilmember Mark Treyger, the Council education committee chair, said in a proposal Friday.

As schools grapple with safely reopening this fall amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the priority should be early childhood and elementary school kids, “children in the formative years of their lives,” Treyger said in a phone interview Saturday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say that young people under 18 "are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus."

A former high school teacher, Treyger said his plan would also “allow all students with (individualized education plans for disabilities), students in temporary housing, students in foster care, English language learners, and students in unsafe home environments (e.g., LGBTQ+ students with unsupportive families) to attend school five days a week, with the option to choose remote learning instead,” though it's unclear how these students will be selected.

If there’s still space after the youngest students are accommodated, then middle school students will also be permitted to attend school in-person either full time or in a hybrid model in Treyger’s plan. Empty high schools can be used for elementary school communities, which happened after Superstorm Sandy in some neighborhoods that had to relocate schools whose buildings were damaged, he said.

Treyger’s proposal is at odds with the official “blended learning” school reopening plan put forth by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza that opens the city’s 1,600 public schools for all 1.1 million students to attend in person on part-time basis, with remote learning the rest of the time. Students can also choose to enroll in full-time remote learning.

“So the mayor's plan for schools is incomplete. And it does not rise to the occasion of the severity of the moment that we're in,” Treyger said in the phone interview. “I believe we need a much bolder plan. We need a moonshot. We need to keep our city safe and obviously contain the virus while still prioritizing education, not just childcare for New York City's most vulnerable children.”

The current city plan “will end up exacerbating the inequities that have come to a head under remote learning,” Treyger said in the proposal. “Working families will still need to negotiate impossible childcare situations, older siblings who have assumed the childcare burden for parents working outside the home will still have those responsibilities, and the students who most depend on the stability of in-person instruction—young students, students in temporary housing and crowded living situations, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners—will not have that stability.”

The city Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

(Update: “Health and safety come first, priorities we know our elected officials and families share, and our plans for the fall are built with input from our public health experts and survey data from our families and staff. We’re in touch with Council Member Treyger on our plans for the fall and welcome any additional ideas,” said DOE spokesperson Danielle Filson in an email statement.)

Treyger’s proposal is similar to one put forth by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on July 15th, which said, “In grades K-3, children are still developing the skills to regulate their own behavior, emotions, and attention, and therefore struggle with distance learning,” and advocated reopening elementary schools.

Treyger’s plan would supplement high schoolers’ remote learning -- “the City should contract with community-based organizations and youth development programs to provide drop-in space and enrichment programming for high schoolers during remote learning. Maximize in-person, after-school activities, where practicable and safe,” he said.

At least two high schools -- Stuyvesant and NEST+m -- have reportedly pressed the city to switch completely to remote learning, though the DOE told Chalkbeat only families can make that decision and not schools themselves.

Treyger also recommended delaying the start of the school year so planning and programming can continue, pointing out that funding and public health guidance continues to change constantly. No official start date has been announced by the city, though de Blasio has said he hopes to start the school year by September 10th.

Treyger’s plan calls for “immediately closing buildings where self-reported cases have occurred” but does not specify how long buildings will remain closed, and what quarantine protocols should be implemented for students, teachers and staff who have come in contact with the positive cases. The DOE said it will release plans for dealing with COVID-19 cases in a school community closer to September.

Treyger said this proposal would allow for more flexibility for teachers and school staffers with health concerns to teach remotely: "educators who have medical concerns and there are many -- and many of them are also primary caretakers for older parents (and) relatives," he said in the phone interview, and advocated for better training to improve live instruction taught remotely.

He also calls for using outdoor space while weather permits for classrooms, as well as “non-instructional spaces such as libraries, auditoriums, cluster rooms, gymnasiums, and cafeterias, as classrooms. During warmer weather, outdoor space could be utilized, as well. Larger spaces will enable larger class sizes, as there will be more space for social distancing, thus allowing more students to attend in-person instruction.” He also suggested leasing Catholic schools that are closing, college campus space if those schools are remote, and any institutions that have auditoriums and large meeting rooms.

All of this is contingent on getting funding from the federal government, Treyger acknowledged.

“The mayor's plan further hinders the education and well being of our children. You're only four years old once in your life. You're only five years old once in your life, you don't get that time back,” Treyger added in the phone interview. It's unclear when he will present his proposal to city officials.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has to approve any reopening plan, which he has said he'll do by August 7th.

With Jessica Gould / WNYC