Cuomo clears New York schools statewide to open, carefully

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York schools can bring children back to classrooms for the start of the school year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday, citing success in battling the coronavirus in the state that once was the U.S. heart of the pandemic.

The Democratic governor's decision clears the way for schools to offer at least some days of in-person classes, alongside remote learning. Students will be required to wear masks throughout school day.

“Everywhere in the state, every region is below the threshold that we established,” Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters. “If there’s a spike in the infection rate, if there’s a matter of concern in the infection rate, then we can revisit."

Many New York school districts have planned to start the year with students in school buildings only a few days a week, while learning at home the rest of the time. Cuomo said individual districts will decide how to instruct students.

More than 1 million public school students in New York City — the largest district in the U.S. — had their last day of in-class instruction on March 13, just as waves of sick people were beginning to hit city hospitals. All schools statewide were closed by March 18.

The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has been saying since the spring that his goal for fall was to bring students back on schedule, with as much classroom time as possible while still allowing for social distancing.

That plan has looked exceedingly ambitious as other large school systems have backed away from in-person instruction in recent weeks.

Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Houston, among other places, all announced they would start the school year with students learning remotely.

De Blasio, while cautioning that he could change course at any time, had expressed...