Last day of school for New York City public school students

NEW YORK - For many parents and students, this school year marked a much welcome return to normalcy.

While many may have played "hooky" on their last day of school, most kids at P.S 9 on the Upper West Side were eager to spend a final day with their teachers.

"He loves his teacher, Ms. Kaplan and he wanted to be first in line today for his last day of school," says Douglas Lasdon, whose son, Luca, is in the 3rd grade.

It was a whirlwind of a year for city schoolchildren.

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First, school doors opened at full capacity for the first time since March 2020. 

"It was kind of better to actually sit at a desk. We each got a whole desk and we started sitting next to each other," Luca mentions.

Then, Mayor Adams dropped the school mask mandate for kids in grades K-12 in March.

The requirement ended for toddlers on June 13.

According to figures released earlier this month, there has been more than an 8% decrease in enrollment at city schools since the start of the pandemic.

City lawmakers have now passed a budget deal slashing funding for next year based on those projections, upsetting some parents.

"They need the extracurriculars, they need the arts it’s so important for our kids. They need computer technology… it’s the last thing in NY from which funding should be cut," says Hilary Hotchkiss, whose son is in 6th grade.

Remote learning is also making a comeback next year.

Applications are now open for the city’s new virtual high school program, which will serve 200 9th graders starting this fall.