Every online moms' groups I visit are all having the same discussion...Will my child be going back to school this September? And what will schooling look like in my school district? Today, our governor made his directions clear.

At Governor Andrew Cuomo’s news conference on Wednesday, July 8, he announced that the state has set the deadlines for making a final decision on how, or if, schools will open this fall. I want to make sure we “Reopen SMART”.

There are 700 school districts in New York State. The state will provide public guidelines to school districts from the New York State Education Department on Monday, July 13, and school districts will have to submit their proposed plans by Friday, July 31. Once districts send their plans, the state will evaluate them and then announce the directions for school openings.

The Governor suggested that directions for school openings will probably be decided based on regions rather than by individual districts. By August 7th, he will announce the directives for school districts opening this fall semester.

The Governor said that the stakeholders have determined the drop-dead dates they needed in order to begin school this fall.

“We want to make sure that decisions will be made with the best available data,” Cuomo said. “We will open the schools if it is safe to open the schools,” he added. “That’s the law and that’s how we’re going to proceed.

The Governor has a test called “My Child Test”. I am not going to ask anyone to put their child in a situation that I would not put my child in. That’s how I make all these decisions.” “I’m not going to put someone in a dangerous situation.”

Cuomo reiterated that the reopening of schools is a state decision. The President can say that he wants to see the schools open, but Cuomo said, a number of times, that the opening of schools is a state decision.

“The federal government has no legal authority when it comes to state schools reopening,” Cuomo said. “That’s the law and that’s how we’re going to proceed. It’s not up to the President of the United States,” he said. “There’s something called a Constitution that guides government power and guides the laws.”

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