N.Y.C. Will Eliminate Remote Learning for Next School Year All students and staff members will be back in school buildings full time come September, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday. About 600,000 of the one million students in the New York City public school system chose to learn remotely this school year. Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times May 24, 2021Updated 2:38 p.m. ET New York City will no longer have a remote schooling option come fall, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday, a major step toward fully reopening the nation’s largest school system and a crucial marker in the city’s economic recovery after more than a year of disruptions caused by the pandemic.