Metro

City school openings are cold comfort

Nearly a million New York City schoolkids are expected to be back in class today — and they had better bundle up.

At least three dozen schools likely won’t have heat as temperatures hover just above freezing in the morning, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday.

CHECK THE FULL LIST OF SCHOOLS THAT MIGHT BE LACKING HEAT

“Please dress your children with that in mind,’’ the mayor said. “If the schools were dangerously cold, we obviously wouldn’t open them. But if they’re chilly, extra sweaters for the kids is something that should make some sense.”

“Istill feel overwhelmed. I live in the Lower East Side and my family was affected,” said Michael Casiano, the dean of attendance for New Design High School. “I wish [New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott] had given us until Wednesda because my (school) building has no steam and the students will come in and will be freezing.”

Casiano said there are 444 students at the high school and he was only expecting 200 to show up.

Lower Manhattan Arts Academy student Destiny Echavarra, 16, said she was glad to be heading back to the classsroom because she was “bored.”

“I was kind of worried about my education.”

LOMA studetn Francisco Rivera, 18, said he wore a fur-lined jacket to school to survive the frigid temps.

Yesterday United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew took issue with the city’s haste.

“If you can get the schools open where kids can go to be somewhere warm and get a hot meal, that’s a plus,” he said. “But if they’re being told to go to cold schools, that’s probably not a good decision.”

Dozens of badly damaged schools — which handle 34,000 students — will still be pupil free after Wednesday, no matter what.

Fifty-seven schools have been deemed uninhabitable for the time being, forcing their students and staff to temporary classrooms on other campuses.

Education officials said they were still working out the details — including where all the students will be relocated and how they’ll be transported. But they expect plans to be in place so that everyone is back in school Wednesday.

The closed-down schools are listed on the Department of Education’s Web site.

By last night, there also were 29 schools still without power that won’t be opened until electricity can be restored. That could happen as early as Wednesday, officials said.

Meanwhile, eight huge Big Apple high schools, with a total of 24,000 students, also will remain closed until Wednesday, as the city struggles to relocate storm evacuees sent there.

The evacuees are now sprawled out in hallways, cafeterias and gymnasiums at the high schools — and many will still be there by Wednesday when students return.

“We’re working closely with [Department of Homeless Services officials] on how we an serve both populations,” said Board of Education spokeswoman Erin Hughes.

Inside Tottenville HS, about 50 people were being housed — with single men in the teacher’s cafeteria, couples and families in the student cafeteria and single women in a nearby classroom.