Inadequate supplies, infrastructure and funding are hampering efforts to safely reopen schools or resume remote learning this fall amid the threat of the coronavirus, New York State health and education officials said Wednesday.
Limited numbers of rapid coronavirus testing devices, spotty internet access and lengthy back-orders on electronic equipment for remote learning are among the challenges officials listed in a virtual discussion with the State Senate Education Committee.
The discussion came as lawmakers and educators await Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s announcement, due this week, on whether schools can reopen. New York’s education and health departments released guidelines on school reopenings last month, and school districts last week submitted their own reopening plans to the agencies for review.
State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker expressed little confidence that rapid coronavirus testing would be possible at schools, owing to shortages of the machines that process the tests.
