No Snow Day For You, Get To School: NYC Mayor

Matt Troutman
Updated ·2 min read
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NEW YORK CITY — Neither snow nor a massive coronavirus surge will keep New York City's public schools from closing under Mayor Eric Adams' watch.

Adams defended his decision to deny New York City kids a snow day Friday — when as much as 8.5 inches of snow fell across the boroughs — with logic.

"This is not Eric's theory or logic," the mayor said. "This is the logic of every professional that I've heard."

The new mayor argued it was for the benefit of the city's kids that he resisted closing schools, even in the face of a COVID-19 spike fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

"Children need to get in school. We don't have any more days to waste," Adams said. "And the long-term impact of leaving our children home is going to impact us for years to come. I'm not going to contribute to that."

But many parents and educators worry about bringing students back to classrooms amid the surge.

School attendance when students returned Monday stood at 67 percent, according to Department of Education data. It rose to 72 percent as of Thursday.

Patch requested detailed absence and sick numbers for educators, but Department of Education officials said they're still working to provide them.

Adams maintains that data shows children are safer at school than at home. He and Chancellor David Banks said they'll keep schools open, despite a rising tide of calls to provide a remote option or go fully remote.

"We urge you to provide a remote option for all schools for about two weeks, until Tuesday, January 18th for parents to test and vaccinate their children to slow down the spread of COVID," a spate of New York City lawmakers wrote to Adams.

Meanwhile, some New Yorkers lodged less official complaints with another authority: Twitter.


This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch