12 votes

NYC snow days: Dismay as school snow days cancelled

4 comments

  1. teaearlgraycold
    Link
    Don’t schools already have extra buffer days to account for snow days? I grew up in Pennsylvania and the last day of school wasn’t determined until spring when the district had already declared...

    Don’t schools already have extra buffer days to account for snow days? I grew up in Pennsylvania and the last day of school wasn’t determined until spring when the district had already declared all of the snow days it would for the year.

    Seems like there’s no benefit to this change.

    8 votes
  2. Kuromantis
    Link

    Snow days have been cancelled for public schools in New York City, with students now expected to continue their classes from home.

    Snow days see schools and similar institutions close when there is heavy snowfall or other extreme weather.

    Authorities say students successfully managed the move to remote learning during lockdowns, and the days off will not continue in the new school year.

    They do not occur often in New York City - Mayor Bill de Blasio only declared seven during his first five years in office, according to the New York Times.

    Many disappointed students, parents and teachers took to social media to reminisce about snowball fights and bobsled races.

    "It seems like callousness bordering on cruelty to scrap one of childhood's greatest pleasures in favour of a rehash of pandemic life," New York Times opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote.

    7 votes
  3. [2]
    nukeman
    Link
    Welp, I guess this will be the Millennial and early Zoomer inverted equivalent to “When I was your age, we had to walk uphill, in the snow, both ways”.

    We used to have the day off when it snowed

    Welp, I guess this will be the Millennial and early Zoomer inverted equivalent to “When I was your age, we had to walk uphill, in the snow, both ways”.

    5 votes
    1. imperialismus
      Link Parent
      Ooh, I'm seizing this moment! Not a zoomer, but I happen to come from a country where heavy snowfall is commonplace. Snow days did not exist. It's especially odd to hear about kids having fun...

      Ooh, I'm seizing this moment! Not a zoomer, but I happen to come from a country where heavy snowfall is commonplace. Snow days did not exist. It's especially odd to hear about kids having fun going sledding on snow days when the only time school would be closed here due to bad weather was if it's literally dangerous to be outside. In my 10 years of mandatory schooling, school was closed once due to bad weather, and it was because heavy winds were sending the aluminium ad boards on the football pitch near the school flying through the air like fucking 6-foot ninja stars. I found out school was canceled when I had already walked to school and thus exposed myself to the danger.

      To be serious for a moment, I understand that the cost/benefit ratio of being prepared for heavy snowfall is simply not worth it when it's really uncommon, but it still sounds very exotic. My father works in road maintenance, which includes snow removal and making sure roads are safe to drive on at all times. They have to keep people on call 24/7 for at least 6 months of the year to make it work. The government agency responsible for roads frequently do friction checks, where they use some kind of fancy equipment to measure how slippery the roads are, and if they're even a fraction more slippery than the contract says, the contactor gets a fine. It's really very expensive to be properly prepared for winter weather, but society couldn't function here if it wasn't done.

      7 votes