(CNN) — New York City schools will begin phasing out hybrid learning and move toward resuming in-person classes after citywide shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

The country’s largest public school district will begin reopening in phases for in-person learning on December 7, de Blasio said during a news conference.

The city closed public school buildings on November 19 after the city’s seven-day average reached the 3% positive testing rate threshold. All students transitioned to remote learning.

Schools will no longer be required to close when the city reaches the 3% test-positivity rate, De Blasio said Sunday.

Students will be tested weekly and parents will be required to sign a consent form for every student that will take in-person classes, he added.

“It’s less concern about the spread when it comes to younger kids,” de Blasio said. “Also the demands that our parents are going through. I feel for all our parents who are experiencing so many challenges right now, how important it is for them to have their younger kids in school, how important it is at that age both educationally, socially, but also in terms of how parents juggle all the challenges in their life.”

Students in 3K, Pre-K, and grades K-5 can resume in-person classes on December 7, said de Blasio. The city will address when middle and high schoolers can return to in-person classes in the future.

There’s a “little bit of extra work to do,” de Blasio said, to get District 75 schools and special education programs running. All grades in District 75 schools will reopen to in-person learning beginning December 10.

Nearly 330,000 students are eligible to return to school. The goal is to get as many schools as possible on a regular five-day, in-person class schedule, de Blasio said.

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