As a bomb cyclone continued to wallop New York City with up to 20 inches of heavy snow, Mayor Mamdani was set to announce the public schools will reopen for in-person classes Tuesday, a City Hall official told the Daily News.
Mamdani was expected to inform families, teachers and school staffers of his decision at a 1:15 p.m. press conference on Monday, the person said.
The return to school buildings comes after city school kids Monday had their first traditional snow day since 2019 and the advent of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mamdani said he made the call to fully cancel classes in response to a unique set of circumstances Monday — the first day of school after last week’s previously scheduled midwinter recess.
“We believe that there were extenuating circumstances, both with the city’s first blizzard in 10 years, combined with the fact that students and teachers were coming back from a week of being off,” Mamdani said on 1010 Wins. “That meant that they didn’t all have the technology in advance of what would’ve otherwise been a remote learning day.”
“We didn’t believe it would actually be productive or conducive or something that would be helpful for our students. So we applied for a waiver from the state. We were told that we would receive it.”
The city has been reluctant to cancel classes during snowstorms because of a state law requiring 180 days of school. With the addition of new holidays, public schools have less flexibility in the academic calendar to close school on days that count toward the required total.
The state’s waiver means students won’t have to make up the day of school later this year.