On Sept. 1, the Archdiocese issued a press release clarifying that the mayor’s separate announcement regarding the delay in reopening New York City public schools had “no bearing or impact on the plans of the Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York.”

 

Deegan said that, with the support of Cardinal Dolan, he had sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sept. 1 informing them of the Archdiocese’s intention to move forward on schedule with reopening, as well as the expectation that the New York City Department of Education would deliver the usual services it is obligated to provide to Catholic school children.

 

The Archdiocese statement read, “As a result of the combined tireless efforts of the Catholic Schools Reopening Advisory Council, and our dedicated pastors, principals and teachers, we are prepared to welcome all of our students into our buildings safely, as scheduled. We expect this will not impact UPK (Universal Pre-kindergarten) programs in our schools, nor will it disrupt transportation or breakfast/lunch services provided by the New York City Department of Education.”

 

 

Parents of the affected students also received a letter outlining the options available to their children in light of the school closures.

 

Norwood News reached out to the Archdiocese for an update on the situation regarding the impacted students, asking if all of them had been duly accommodated at other schools. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

One of the impacted parents who preferred not to be identified told Norwood News she believes that most of the schools that were supposed to close have closed. “Any school that was on the list to close that has not [closed], will be opened for this school year only as a transition,” she said. “The remaining schools from the list will close 2021.”

 

She said her child’s school closed and the student is now attending a different Catholic school. “He is doing 100 percent remote learning. I may only keep him there for a year,” she said.

 

Referring to a previously communicated incentive offered by the Archdiocese for parents to keep their children in the Catholic school system, the parent said she was only offered $430 in financial aid from the Archdiocese, as opposed to the $1,200 she received last year when her child attended a different Catholic school.

 

“I am unsure of the logistics of the disbursement of the $1,000 credit we are supposed to receive towards the tuition for keeping our children in Catholic school, but technology has proven to be challenging all across the schools in the Archdiocese,” she said. “They had to update their wifi systems to support the overwhelming usage in the building. The sound quality has made it very difficult for learning. All of the Catholics schools were affected. Since the class is live using a webcam, I honestly feel the teachers are working harder as they have to ensure the students in class, and the student[s] [at] home, learning remotely are engaged and supported,” she said.

 

The parent said she feels lucky that her child’s teacher “is great” and that the principal is “extremely supportive and constantly communicating with us.” However, she said that remote learning is not effective for her child and that he “struggles and often just sits there, lost.”

 

She said she has to constantly support him, which is difficult, adding that she was under the impression that the students would receive a teacher for remote learning (as opposed to the blended model) but that that has not been the case.

 

“I want to cry because if I was not sitting there, he would not know what to do,” she said. “He barely knows how to navigate google/google classroom using various apps. God forbid he gets logged off Zoom by accident. He is only six for crying out loud!”

 

The parent said she is frustrated by the situation but she is trying to give her son credit as she believes children are more resilient than we think. “The principal assures me that all will end well,” she said. “I feel bad because the principal is amazing, and trying really hard, but at the end of the day this type of learning is impossible.”

 

She said her son needs a remote teacher, adding that he completed Catapult learning (funded by the Department of Education) over the summer which she was happy about as it helped a lot. “It was effective because there were only 12 students in the class, it was done 100 percent remotely on Zoom, and he had direct interaction with the teacher. She was a highly effective and [an] incredible teacher,” she said.

 

The parent added that in order to prevent her child from falling behind with his education, she plans to use money she and her husband had saved to buy a home and invest it instead in her son’s education as she sees these early learning years of his life are critical. “Sadly, we have given up on Catholic School,” she said. “[The] Archdiocese has become a “business” simply like that. I will not pour another penny. This year will cost us everything we have, even our faith.”

 

Norwood News reached out to the Archdiocese for comment on the parent’s concerns and did not receive an immediate response.

 

Meanwhile, the reopening of public schools and the debate about whether or not it is safe to do so has been punctuated by a seemingly never-ending sequence of announcements, press conferences, changes to previous announcements and protests, as reported by Norwood News.