NYC schools eliminate snow days; students will learn remotely
NEW YORK - Snow days will be a thing of the past. That means the snow dance and wearing your pajamas inside-out just won't work this upcoming school year. Mother nature will not cancel learning. Instead, New York City students will have to shift to remote learning. Kids say that doesn't sound like fun.
The Department of Education released its 2021–2022 school calendar on Tuesday morning.
"Over the years, the DOE introduced additional holiday observances as part of the school calendar, and has contractual obligations which limit the number of possible school days," the department said in a statement. "The pandemic has also created the ability to switch seamlessly to remote learning, and DOE central and schools have distributed hundreds of thousands of devices to ensure that learning can continue remotely during school closures."
Some parents applaud the decision.
"We've missed a lot of school this year and I'm supportive of kids having as much education as possible," a mom from the Upper East Side told us.
By state law, students must attend class 180 out of 365 days. Because of the pandemic, this year students already missed out on snow days and continued learning virtually.
ChalkBeat NY reporter Alex Zimmerman says snow days are politically tricky because they're always called at the very last minute. Mayor Bill de Blasio called more snow days than his predecessor Michael Bloomberg.
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Other changes to the calendar include Nov. 2, Election Day. Students will be remote and teachers will have a development day but that could change depending on the state's Education Department.
Also, Oct. 11, which is Columbus Day, will now be observed as Indigenous Peoples Day. And Juneteenth will be observed with a day off for students on June 20.
"We know nothing replaces in-person instruction, and we currently have more students learning in our schools than any other city or system," the Education Department said. "Our goal for the fall is to have all of our children safely return to full-time in-person learning on September 13th, and we look forward to sharing more information over the spring and summer."