The New York City schools website where parents answer COVID screening questions for their kids apparently crashed Monday, amid the first-day-of-school influx of students returning to in-person learning.
Widespread reports from parents, verified by multiple attempts from News 4, indicated the website was slow to load or simply would not open at all.
In lieu of the online screening process, school personnel used paper forms to clear students upon arrival.
Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter told reporters gathered at a first-day-of-school event that the crash was to be expected for the first day of the year.
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At his morning press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the screening site had come back online. What and how the site crashed is still under investigation.
"I think overload is the obvious answer," he surmised.
U.S. & World
More than 1 million kids return to class Monday, in the nation's largest experiment yet with full-time in-person pandemic learning.
One parent reported that as of 8:15 a.m. Monday, he had been trying for 30 minutes to load the screening page with no luck. In the past, he said, it took about two minutes to load and complete the form.
On social media, the frustration was palpable.
This is a developing story.
