Public schools in New York City (NYC) remained closed for in-person learning through the end of the Spring 2020 semester, deferring to remote learning through online platforms. State officials across the United States (US) enacted similar orders, resulting in nationwide elementary and high school closures throughout March. In an effort to mitigate the rapid transmission of the virus, the New York State (NYS) governor declared a state of emergency on Ma, and subsequently banned all large gatherings on March 20, resulting in statewide school and business closures.

The primary mechanism of transmission of COVID-19 is contact with respiratory droplets or aerosols from an infected person. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first observed in Wuhan, China in December, 2019 and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Ma. Future COVID-19 schooling changes need to be conveyed clearly and disseminated effectively in order to avoid confusion about NYC’s pandemic learning strategy and to address health and safety concerns. This study demonstrates that as government officials updated NYC schooling plans for Fall 2020, there were increased concerns among NYC residents. Spikes in these calls corresponded to official announcements, including those about Fall reopening plans (August 31: n = 678 September 1: n = 624) and schedules and staffing (September 16th: n = 1043 September 17th: n = 713), and after the start of in-person learning (September 21: n = 680). During 2020, the most common (49%, n = 22,471) call description was “Coronavirus and Schools”, encompassing calls about learning options, safety, and resources.

School-related inquiries increased by 71% from 2018 to 2020. Overall call types, and among school-related calls, detailed call types, were compared over the years, using chi-squared tests. Calls were categorized as related to “Schools”, “Access”, “Food”, “Hospitals”, “Transportation”, and “Unemployment”. July to November inquiries were downloaded from the NYC Open Data website for 2018–2020. This study aimed to assess the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) school-related information New York City residents sought through the 311 Call Center.

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