Statement: Justin Krebs on De Blasio’s Opt-in Period Announcement

Following Mayor de Blasio’s announcement that there will be another opt-in period for students to return to schools, Justin Krebs (Starter of petition to reopen opt-in days; Secretary, District 15 President's Council; Exec. Board Member, PS39 PA) issued the following statement:

“This is a victory for parents and students that have been locked out of in-person education for their kids by an arbitrary decision to cancel opt-in periods.  Thousands of families signed the petition for more opt-in periods—and hopefully they’re being heard and will have their chance. But I’m tired of students and parents having to plan their lives around unpredictable and capricious statements from Mayor de Blasio and the complete lack of planning and transparency from the administration. If schools are going to increase their in-person enrollments, this doesn’t just happen by press release. We’re also going to have to do away with the 2-case rule to reduce unnecessary closures, change guidelines from 6ft to 3ft to accommodate more students, and give principals the resources to make this work. This is also a reminder of why we need a plan—now—for how we’ll reopen schools safely in the fall. Parents, students, teachers, and principals have had enough of this chaos. Let’s get more kids back to school now—and all kids back to school in the fall.”