Mayor Mamdani has announced New York City’s first full school snow day — with no remote learning — in years for Monday in anticipation of a major blizzard.
The mayor made the announcement on social media Sunday, posting a video of a FaceTime call between him and an eighth-grade girl named Victoria who attends public school in Brooklyn. “Oh my God, it’s the mayor,” the girl yelped.
“We’ve got a full snow day tomorrow. No online school, no remote learning. Full classic snow day,” Mamdani told Victoria.
“So my only ask to you is that you just stay safe, stay indoors during the height of the storm. Once that has passed, feel flee to go out and sled.”
The decision comes as the city braces for a possible 18 to 22 inches of snow, with the severe weather rolling in about 9 p.m. Sunday.
Tomorrow is the first traditional snow day in the years since the advent of remote learning during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
Mamdani asked the state for a waiver of its requirement that the school year include 180 days of instruction and the state granted it.
The teachers union backed Mamdani’s decision.
“Having a traditional snow day is the right decision,” Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said in a statement to the Daily News.
Mulgrew sent the following message to UFT members:
“The UFT and the city spoke to the state and asked for a waiver on the 180 school day policy due to the upcoming emergency weather situation,” Mulgrew said. “New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa granted the waiver for several reasons including the fact that a travel ban will be in effect in the city, and that students and staff are unlikely to have the equipment they need for a day of remote learning.”
City public school students were off last week for mid-winter break and so didn’t have a real opportunity to connect with the technology and classroom materials needed for remote learning, officials said.
“I think because it’s a state of emergency it makes sense not to have school,” said Fara Riaci, mother of a daughter in kindergarten.
Her daughter actually enjoyed remote learning, Riaci said — but “she’s very excited for her first no school day!”
“I am able to work from home tomorrow. We’re lucky in that sense,” Riaci added.
“You’re never going to be able to make all the parents happy. There’s going to be parents upset about it and there’s going to be parents who are happy about it,” said Keira McCoy, 39, who lives in Astoria with her daughter Maxie, 6.
“We did only part of the online learning the last snow day,” McCoy admitted.
Maxie’s plans for the snow day were to slide. “I feel like I’m going to go down the slide. I want to go to the park with someone!” the first-grader said.
“I think it’s great! Let the kids have a snowday,” said Eleni Goros, who teaches first grade in a public school in Astoria.
Mika, a fourth-grader in Brooklyn, said if it’s safe to go outside Monday, the plan is to go sledding in the afternoon.
During last month’s snow day, when public schools pivoted to remote learning, Mika logged on and off during the school day to attend math and English Language Arts classes. This snow day, he’s looking forward to the flexibility of no remote classes.
“School is fun and all,” Mika said. “But I like being able to choose what I want to do.”
