Teachers need to be assured a school district's reopening plan will keep them safe as students return potentially to classrooms in the coming weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. 

"Teachers are concerned," Cuomo said. "Some of them are older. They're in the more vulnerable populations. They don't have the same level of comfort."

What You Need To Know

  • School districts have submitted their plans for reopening

  • A final decision on whether schools can reopen is expected at some point this week

  • For now Gov. Cuomo says school districts must ensure all involved are comfortable with in-person classroom learning and instruction

  • Some teachers unions have already raised concerns about reopening

Cuomo said he hoped strikes would be avoided over the reopening plans, which were submitted in detail on Friday by local school districts around the state. A final decision on reopening is expected this week and hinges on an infection rate in a region below 5 percent over a sustained period of time. 

"If the union and the teachers aren't comfortable they aren't going to show up," Cuomo said. "No one wants to force people to go to work. This is about common sense and public health."

But reopening discussions are already causing strife in some areas of the state. 

Buffalo Federation of Teachers President Phil Rumore has blasted the district's reopening panel and called for the removal of its officials.

Cuomo, meanwhile, has criticized New York City school officials for being slow off the block on submitting its reopening plan for schools.

Closing a school will be triggered by a sudden rise in coronavirus infection rates. Schools would close if cases reach 9 percent of tests conducted over a rolling seven-day average, Cuomo said. 

There would be a "red stop button" for schools to close again, he said. 

New York's infection rate has flattened out in recent weeks as tens of thousands of tests are conducted each day. Results over the last 24 hours found an infection rate of below 1 percent, consistent with most of the last month. 

Three people have died of COVID-19 in New York over the last 24 hours, Cuomo said.

Schools in New York closed for the academic year in March as the pandemic began to sweep through the state, moving students to a remote learning model. 

Cuomo has acknowledged for the last several days that remote learning is not ideal for students or their parents, who are also seeking to return to work. 

The reopening of schools remains a tricky decision for parents and guardians, a balance between the health of a child and the need for students to return to some semblance of normalcy. 

Some households, those with single parents or parents who must work, have little choice heading into the school year, however. 

School districts were tasked with submitting plans that provide for a mix of in-classroom learning and distance learning contingencies. Parents and guardians in some instances will have a choice to send their students to school or keep them home. 

Reopening is also expected to be an expensive proposition for school districts, which must provide personal protective equipment like masks as well as disinfect buildings.