NYC: Snow days now mean remote learning for school kids

Sorry, kids.

Say goodbye to the snow day — that surprise day off cherished by schoolchildren — and hello (again) to remote learning.

Public school in New York City won’t be canceled anymore over inclement weather, the city’s Department of Education announced Tuesday. Instead, learning will go all-remote if physical buildings must close.

The announcement — included in the 2021-2022 school year beginning Sept. 13 — said "the DOE will shift all students to remote instruction in lieu of canceling schools due to severe weather conditions."

Also in Tuesday’s announcement: Election Day is expected to be all remote, with a professional-development day for teachers; and schools will close June 20 in observance of Juneteenth, which celebrates slave emancipation.

The plan had initially replaced Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples’ Day," but after an uproar, the education department said later Tuesday that the Columbus Day replacement would actually be "Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day."

Long Island public schools have not decided whether to eliminate snow days, according to Deirdre Gilligan, a spokeswoman for both counties’ superintendents associations. She said she "didn't have anything more to offer" when asked whether the idea is being considered.

The end of snow days, and the spread of remote learning, is one of the coronavirus pandemic’s legacies even after it ends.

Remote schooling — in which school systems nationwide switched to students learning, with varying degrees of pedagogical success, via video-computer link to an instructor elsewhere — began in March 2020 in an effort to avoid spreading the virus.

During the pandemic, snow days were eliminated in the city. Tuesday’s announcement makes that policy permanent. According to USA Today, 39% of school officials polled nationwide ended snow days last year in favor of online learning, and 32% were considering it.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.