NYC parents: Screw remote learning, I’m letting my children have a real snow day

Jeanette Settembre, Hailey Eber
·5 min read
2

Let it snow — and let the children have a real day off from school.

That’s what city moms and dads said Tuesday, as 3.2 inches fell in Central Park, making for the snowiest day since January, 2022.

Across the five boroughs, NYC public schools closed their campuses due to the storm but still held classes remotely under a new policy — which came about as result of pandemic and was first announced in September 2022.

Parents, nostalgic for the cozy winters of their youth, bristled at their kids having to log on to Zoom classes — if and when the technology worked — rather than getting a traditional carefree snow day.

“What’s next? Homework on Christmas? Math class on New Year’s Day? I’m disgusted that it’s even suggested that parents should be homeschooling today,” fumed chef Marc Forgione in an Instagram post.

“My son will have a snow day just like I did and just like @nycmayor did when he was a kid. Let the kids play!!!”

Deana Balahtsis-Thomas, lawyer and mom of three, says she let her 10-year-old (left) have a proper snow day when his school emailed saying remote learning was in session Tuesday with his Upper East Side school’s campus closed. EMMY PARK
Deana Balahtsis-Thomas, lawyer and mom of three, says she let her 10-year-old (left) have a proper snow day when his school emailed saying remote learning was in session Tuesday with his Upper East Side school’s campus closed. EMMY PARK

When Deana Balahtsis-Thomas, an Upper East Side mom-of-three and lawyer, learned that her youngest son’s public school would be doing online classes on Tuesday, she immediately said no.

“As soon as that email came out I emailed the teachers and said, ‘he’s not doing the remote learning. He’s having a snow day,'” Balahtsis-Thomas, 53, told The Post. “During COVID we didn’t have a choice [but] I swore they would never do remote learning again.

So she let her son, a fifth grader at PS 006 Lillie D. Blake, play in Central Park in the snow before coming home for his regular math tutoring session.

“To me it’s form over substance. [The Department of Education] just wants to say that they’re doing this to check something off their agenda,” she said. “But what are the kids learning remotely when it’s snowing out and they want to be out in Central Park playing?”

Balahtsis-Thomas building a snow man with her two sons. “As soon as that email came out I emailed the teachers and said, ‘he’s not doing the remote learning. He’s having a snow day,'” she told The Post, of letting her 10-year-old play outside. Her two older sons, ages 13 and 14, attend a private school that just cancelled school outright. EMMY PARK
Balahtsis-Thomas building a snow man with her two sons. “As soon as that email came out I emailed the teachers and said, ‘he’s not doing the remote learning. He’s having a snow day,'” she told The Post, of letting her 10-year-old play outside. Her two older sons, ages 13 and 14, attend a private school that just cancelled school outright. EMMY PARK

Her two older sons, ages 13 and 14, attend a private school that just cancelled school outright on Tuesday. They spent the day playing PS5 before a Greek tutor came over in the afternoon.

“There is going to be some learning in this house,” Balahtsis-Thomas said.

Staten Island mom Veronica Gill Mannarino, 55, also let her children — 12-year-old twins Sarah and Ryan — have the day off. The kids, who attend IS 072 Rocco Laurie, a public middle school, spent the day frolicking in the powder, drinking hot cocoa, eating pizza and playing Fortnite.

“Some of my best memories as a child were waking up to a snow day, no school — I would never want to take that away from them just because they can [learn remotely],” Gill Mannarino told The Post.

Staten Island mom Veronica Gill Mannarino, 55, also let her children enjoy the snow day in lieu of logging on to their computers remotely. Her 12-year-old Ryan (left) and 10-year-old Tommy enjoyed hot chocolate and time outside Tuesday at home in Staten Island. Stefano Giovannini
Staten Island mom Veronica Gill Mannarino, 55, also let her children enjoy the snow day in lieu of logging on to their computers remotely. Her 12-year-old Ryan (left) and 10-year-old Tommy enjoyed hot chocolate and time outside Tuesday at home in Staten Island. Stefano Giovannini
“Some of my best memories as a child were waking up to a snow day, no school — I would never want to take that away from them just because they can [learn remotely],” Gill Mannarino (right) told The Post. Here, she’s pictured with her 12-year-old twins, Ryan and Sarah, and 10-year-old son, Tommy. Stefano Giovannini
“Some of my best memories as a child were waking up to a snow day, no school — I would never want to take that away from them just because they can [learn remotely],” Gill Mannarino (right) told The Post. Here, she’s pictured with her 12-year-old twins, Ryan and Sarah, and 10-year-old son, Tommy. Stefano Giovannini
“They have 92 averages, we don’t take school lightly, but I think there’s a time to let kids be kids,” Gill Mannarino told The Post of letting her little ones with high GPAs enjoy a snow day at home in Staten Island. Stefano Giovannini
“They have 92 averages, we don’t take school lightly, but I think there’s a time to let kids be kids,” Gill Mannarino told The Post of letting her little ones with high GPAs enjoy a snow day at home in Staten Island. Stefano Giovannini

“There hasn’t been a snow day in two years. Just because we have this technology, doesn’t mean we have to use it.”

Still, her daughter Sarah felt pressure to check-in on her assignments, which Gill Mannarino wishes wasn’t the case.

“They have 92 averages, we don’t take school lightly, but I think there’s a time to let kids be kids,” she said.

Some parents disagreed with the remote learning, but didn’t feel comfortable skipping it.

Susie Gould, 42, had her 11-year-old Maddie sign on for math, English language arts and science lessons.

Some parents disagreed with the remote learning, but didn’t feel comfortable skipping it. Susie Gould, 42, had her 11-year-old Maddie (left) sign on for math, English language arts and science lessons Tuesday. Courtesy of Gould
Some parents disagreed with the remote learning, but didn’t feel comfortable skipping it. Susie Gould, 42, had her 11-year-old Maddie (left) sign on for math, English language arts and science lessons Tuesday. Courtesy of Gould

The sixth grader at East Side Middle School (MS 114), even did a remote gym class that consisted of 15 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training class and a 20-minute cardio blast.

“It still would have been nice for them to have a nice mental health break and just enjoy the day,” Gould lamented. “As hard charging as we make our kids these days, a day off once in a while is welcome for them.”

“There hasn’t been a snow day in two years. Just because we have this technology, doesn’t mean we have to use it.” Gill Mannarino told The Post or wanting her children to play in the snow. Stefano Giovannini
“There hasn’t been a snow day in two years. Just because we have this technology, doesn’t mean we have to use it.” Gill Mannarino told The Post or wanting her children to play in the snow. Stefano Giovannini

Tech problems added to the frustration. Gina Rotundo had her daughter, a junior at NYC iSchool, a forward-thinking public high school in Soho, do the remote learning “out of respect” to her teachers. But, due to a technical glitch, she couldn’t get into her first class.

“It’s a waste of resources, and the DOE and NYC public school system don’t have a lot,” said Rotundo, a 55-year-old Upper East Sider who manages the Cacio e Pepe restaurant in her neighborhood. “It was all the same issues of the pandemic but still not resolved.”

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