STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Things ain’t like they used to be.
New York City public school kids may not get a snow day Monday, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani hinted Saturday that schools may remain open despite the impending winter storm.
“School facility, custodial and operational teams will also be working throughout the weekend to ensure that schools are safe and cleared if schools reopen on Monday for in-person learning,” the mayor said. “We want to make sure that whatever decision we make is one where students, parents, (and) educators will be safe.”
Mamdani said he and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels will make a final decision by noon Sunday, but he left little room open for a possible snow day. Per the mayor’s comments during a morning press briefing in Manhattan, kids should expect to either be in classrooms or have a virtual learning day at home
The school calendar has added more holidays in recent years, making it harder for the city to have snow days and meet the 180 school days mandated by state law. Virtual learning also took off during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, giving the city another option to avoid snow days.
“Teachers and public school staff have made sure that students have the devices they will need should classes be held remotely on Monday,” Mamdani said. “School staff also did additional pressure testing last night and will continue over the weekend to ensure that, if needed, virtual learning can operate seamlessly.”
The Sunday storm is expected to dump as many as 14 inches of snow on New York City, and sleet may complicate road clearing and transportation, experts said.
Students have apparently been trying to lobby the new mayor to shut down city schools, even reaching out to his wife, Rama Duwaji, for her support.
The mayor joked on New York 1 Friday that one student found Duwaji’s email address and made their argument for why schools should be shut down.
“She thought it was a very very good argument, but this is where we’ve ended,” he said.