Remote classes will be discontinued.

New York City has the largest school district in the entire United States, with over 1 million students occupying over 1,800 different schools. For the duration of the pandemic, these schools have all been shuttered, leaving those million students to attend classes remotely, despite several misfired attempts to return to in-person schooling over the last year. With vaccinations on the rise and COVID-19 cases in New York City down, though, Mayor Bill de Blasio believes it’s finally time to get the students back in their classrooms.

“It’s just amazing the forward motion right now, the recovery that’s happening in New York City,” de Blasio told MSNBC. “But you can’t have a full recovery without full-strength schools, everyone back sitting in those classrooms, kids learning again.”

Starting in September, all students in the New York City school district will be returning to in-person schooling. This will be a requirement, as remote classes will be discontinued entirely. de Blasio has assured that schools will be able to maintain the CDC’s current school COVID safety requirements of face masks and 3 feet of social distancing, though he is also fairly certain the CDC will alter those recommendations before the school year begins. If parents are uncertain about the safety measures in place, they will be able to visit their children’s future classrooms starting next month to inspect them first-hand.

“We have proven that we can beat back Covid all over this country and school opens four months from now,” de Blasio said. “So I absolutely believe Covid will continue to go down, vaccinations will go up, recovery will be strong.”

Currently, the rate of positivity for COVID-19 within the New York City public school system is 0.16%. At least half of the school system’s teaching staff has been fully vaccinated, with more expected by the fall.