He defined that the remote-learning expertise carried out through the coronavirus pandemic will enable college students to proceed their research on days when the snow is just too heavy for them to commute to highschool — when children might need ordinarily gone sledding with their pals.
“So, sorry kids — no more snow days, but it’s going to be good for you!” he stated.
New York City public schools first scrapped snow days in 2020 amid the primary 12 months of the pandemic and continued the coverage into the next faculty 12 months, citing the necessity to meet the state’s requirement of 180 days of learning per 12 months.
The metropolis’s Department of Education didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark early Wednesday.
School districts in different states have additionally executed away with snow days, although some locations — together with Washington, D.C. — have held onto them. Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, for instance, budgeted up to five snow days final 12 months.
Ben Blair, the principal of Rogers Park Montessori in Chicago, told WFLD earlier this 12 months that the days off might be good for college students.
“I think there’s value in these moments of reckless, joyful abandon,” he advised the station. “Whether flopping in the snow or meeting neighbors out on the street shoveling, that human connection that serendipitously happens during a snow day is fantastic.”
In locations with disappearing snow days, the change has come to the frustration of college students and the opposition of some mother and father for whom the occasions are reminders of their very own childhoods. The stresses of ensuring their youngsters are engaged with remote learning whereas juggling their very own work duties are additionally prime of thoughts.
At the identical time, snow days have been a headache for officers in New York City and different elements of the nation who’re pressured to make robust calls which are often later criticized. Years earlier than the coronavirus pandemic closed schools, officers nationwide had been looking for options to giving college students the time without work for inclement climate, with some experimenting with remote learning, Edutopia, a publication by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, reported in 2018.
Although Banks stated remote learning expertise has enabled the transition away from snow days in New York City, some lower-income households have stated it doesn’t work for them. In December, 5 mother and father sued the city officials, claiming the division provided them with defective gear and provided no technical assist. The case is ongoing.
Teachers, in the meantime, have been advised to arrange a “digital classroom” wherein a lesson plan is ready and prepared in case of an emergency closure, a United Federation of Teachers union spokesperson told the New York Post.
On Tuesday, the hosts of “Good Day New York” jokingly booed Banks’s snow day announcement.
“I know,” he replied. “That’s the way I used to feel.”