Sorry kids, New York City students will still not have a traditional snow day, no matter how many inches fall.

School will be in session on Monday, whether in-person or remote, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Friday as he provided an update on the preparations for a potentially massive winter storm heading to the area over the weekend.

The mayor said he will make the final decision by noon on Sunday whether classes will pivot to remote learning. The city is also canceling Sunday鈥檚 Public School Athletic League activities as well as any other Sunday school events.

鈥淚 have to apologize to the students that we鈥檙e hoping for a different answer for a traditional snow day,鈥� Mamdani said during a press briefing on the storm, acknowledging that the city has no flexibility in its calendar to cancel instructional days.

New York City schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said the city was committed to swiftly sharing information about schools.

鈥淲e know that families need timely, clear information to plan their schedules,鈥� Samuels said.

He also said that schools will be flexible in their approach to remote learning.

鈥淣o one is asking kids to be on a device for six hours and 20 minutes,鈥� Samuels said. 鈥淪ome learning will be synchronous. Some will be asynchronous. You can still have your hot chocolate, you can still go out and enjoy the snow.鈥�

Education Department officials are encouraging students and staff to log in to remote learning platforms over the weekend to make sure they can connect and to avoid technical glitches Monday morning, according to a letter to principals obtained by Chalkbeat. School leaders were also encouraged to stagger school start times for each grade level by 15-minute increments 鈥渢o ensure a smooth login experience,鈥� the email states.

The National Weather Service is predicting , and the city is gearing up. Schools across the five boroughs are reaching out to their students to ensure they have devices and understand how to log on in the event of a remote school day.

This is the first major logistical test for the mayor and his new chancellor. A big chunk of the city鈥檚 nearly 900,000 students 鈥� all high school students and those attending 6-12 schools 鈥� already had the day off for a teacher professional development day. But the day might be complicated for many parents of young children: They might be frustrated with remote learning and prefer that their kids play outside, or they might be scrambling for child care, especially if they must work in-person.

Many families also depend on schools to provide their children breakfast and lunch.

Schools last closed in-person classes because of snow two years ago, and it did not go well: , despite efforts to . The Education Department subsequently conducted another drill, but it was optional, .

鈥淲e are preparing for the possibility of remote such that we do not repeat those mistakes of the past,鈥� Mamdani said.

Samuels recalled the 2024 remote snow day as a 鈥渄ay that will live in infamy鈥� and said, 鈥淲e鈥檝e stress tested the system, both in person with students logging in and as well. We鈥檝e had simulations so we are prepared now.鈥�

The most recent test, Samuels said, was in December.

鈥淲e鈥檝e increased the capacity to make sure that we can house as many students as possible on that day,鈥� Samuels added. 鈥淪o we now have the capacity of having a million students logging at the same time within 60 seconds.鈥�

The mayor and chancellor offered conflicting messages this week about whether closing school altogether, with no remote learning, could be an option. Samuels that remote learning would be required if school buildings are shuttered, though Mamdani that he was mulling a traditional snow day.

Changes to the school calendar make cancelling school difficult, if not impossible.

The city stopped having traditional snow days in 2020, deciding that schools could instead offer remote learning to help meet the mandated 180 instructional days as more holidays have been added to the calendar.

The state allows certain professional development days to count toward that number, and because of that, New York City students are only in

Mamdani emphasized the steps the city is taking to prepare for the storm.

More than 2,000 sanitation workers are going to start 12-hour shifts starting Saturday evening as the city issues a hazardous travel advisory for Sunday and Monday. He urged people to take the storm seriously and stay home.

The city鈥檚 subway and bus system is expected to be operational, said Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Before COVID-19, snow days like these were routine, not even worth mentioning. But with the switch to virtual schooling came because of weather would soon be . There would be no reason to cancel classes if they could just go remote. An from November 2020 even reported that % of principals and school district officials had converted or were considering converting snow days to remote learning days. 

But a 74 survey of policies around the country finds that while some districts have made the shift  鈥� or tried to 鈥� others have gone back to that time-honored tradition.

Seattle Public Schools into its academic calendar but ended the practice after the pandemic. While a traditional snow day isn鈥檛 completely off the table, the district usually implements remote learning when schools close due to emergencies, said Tyler Hamilton, Seattle鈥檚 director of school operations.

鈥淎re we getting the same level of quality instruction at the end of the school year? Is having some type of instruction remotely going to be more meaningful than having paused completely and then doing some type of makeup day?鈥� Hamilton said. 鈥淚t really is more of 鈥� looking to provide as much consistency as possible for kids.鈥�

When the entire district had to switch to virtual classes on Feb. 5 and 6 because of a snowstorm, some students remembered the routine, while younger children who weren鈥檛 yet in school at the beginning of the pandemic struggled, Hamilton said. High school and middle school teachers were expected to host classes like normal, while elementary teachers had a less structured schedule.

鈥淪econd graders [were] showing off their bedroom to their friends and being excited as like a show and tell opportunity, which was similar to a lot of our earlier days of COVID,鈥� Hamilton said. 鈥淚f my [high school] class was normally a 55-minute class with my algebra teacher, I’m going to have that same time of day with that algebra teacher.鈥�

Attendance policies were the same as for in-person classes 鈥� but students weren鈥檛 counted as being late if they didn鈥檛 join the class on time. Hamilton said the district is still analyzing attendance data from the two snow days.

For some schools, attendance routinely lags during remote learning on snow days. Last year, attendance rates in Pittsburgh-area schools on virtual days ranged from 99% to as low as 66%, according to the .

New York City Public Schools tried to implement remote learning on a snow day in February 2024 for the first time since its no-snow day policy was introduced two years earlier. School officials after students were unable to sign in. The district and for future snow days. 

Challenges like access to the internet or computers at home have made some schools rethink their remote learning plans.

One said his district of 2,300 students will continue traditional snow days because some kids can鈥檛 access online learning.

鈥淣ot every family can be linked in,鈥� Superintendent Christian Elkington told the Sun Journal. 鈥淣ot every family has the same supports and services.鈥�

Other districts have to implement traditional snow days because state regulations leave them no choice.

In New Jersey, to count toward the 180 school days required each year unless schools are closed for three consecutive days because of a state-declared emergency. Virtual classes were permitted during the pandemic because of an executive order. Last year, lawmakers to allow remote instruction during snow days, but it failed to advance.

also have to use traditional snow days after the state鈥檚 education commissioner told superintendents in December that remote learning shouldn鈥檛 count as school days because it doesn鈥檛 鈥渁dequately meet students鈥� needs.鈥� 

In Seattle, Hamilton said administrators are still assessing how the two days of remote learning went. Some parents reported technical or logistical difficulties.

鈥淎s a whole, the day went much smoother than some of our initial implementations,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re going through our data right now looking at how many students and staff members were online [and] how long they were online.鈥�

If they鈥檙e too quick to close schools, families strapped for child care 鈥� or facing another day of indoor 鈥渇un鈥� 鈥� suffer. If they hold back and ice or whiteouts trap kids on buses, that鈥檚 a different kind of misery-making.

In December, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel made fun of his first wrong school-closure call of the season in a Twitter video that ended up going viral.

Standing in the dry, sunny parking lots of a series of shuttered schools, he mocked himself: 鈥淐ertainly the worst conditions that have ever existed in Rochester history 鈥� maybe in American history.鈥� 

鈥淚 could never have made it out here to Bamber Valley Elementary School in these terrible road conditions if I didn鈥檛 have an incredibly powerful all-terrain vehicle like my Kia Optima,鈥� Pekel proclaimed to his phone camera. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have an amped-up car like mine, don鈥檛 go out. You鈥檙e never going to make it.鈥�

Gantlet thrown down, students have spent the rest of the winter tapping their critical thinking and creative writing skills to persuade Pekel to call snow days. 

Earlier this week, the superintendent singled out an entreaty from Fahad A. as one of the year鈥檚 best.  

Runners-up so far this school year include an argument that the district鈥檚 17,400 students are becoming accustomed to sleeping in on Thursdays, which one claimed have been especially snow-prone;

That stressed-out teachers need the extra rest;

And that homebound pupils will use the day to catch up. 

There was a variation on the classic 鈥渦phill both ways鈥� lament 鈥�

鈥nd outright flattery. 

But not everybody was amused. 

The superintendent did not miss a beat, replying to a thread of armchair meteorologists that he had not 鈥渢hrown any [forecasters] under the proverbial school buses we are all trying to keep on the road.鈥�

As it turns out, how many inches are enough to justify a snow day is a math problem with no right answer. 

Snow days, a nostalgic rite of passage for generations of students across the northern United States, might seem destined to be a memory of school days past. For nearly a century, schools have canceled or delayed classes because of heavy or dangerous snowfall that creates hazardous travel conditions. School calendars would include a number of 鈥渕akeup鈥� days, when any missed time could be rescheduled.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools transitioned to remote learning to keep teaching when it wasn鈥檛 safe for people to gather. With students already learning at home, chose to forgo traditional snow days and proceed with remote learning during the pandemic. Those choices, and improvements in online education, led several to predict the end of the snow day.

However, policy data collected from the 35 states with suggests that while more schools are using remote learning days instead of canceling classes, the traditional snow day is far from extinct.

Snow days seem to be sticking around, thanks to nostalgia, lingering concerns about the effectiveness and accessibility of online learning and a sentiment that families and children need these unscripted, unplugged breaks.

A new option becomes available

When schools close because of inclement weather, it affects students鈥� learning.

For instance, research in Colorado, Maryland and Virginia has shown that led to less continuity of learning, which in turn made it less likely that elementary school students would pass math assessments.

Even before the pandemic, 14 states had policies that allowed schools other options besides closing for inclement weather. Beginning in 2011, , , and allowed students to work on preassembled packets that had been prepared and sent home instead of calling a snow day.

As technology improved, schools replaced take-home packets with online assignments and instruction.

In 2017, authorized five e-learning days a year. . In Pennsylvania, can take advantage of a 2019 policy that allows five days of remote instruction.

During the pandemic years, more schools got better at teaching online and saw opportunities to reduce school closings during winter storms. With nearly all states authorized on public health grounds to provide remote instruction during COVID-19, schools began doing so for inclement weather, too.

In 2022, the New York Board of Regents authorized the state鈥檚 public schools to class on snow days. Days earlier, anticipating the decision, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks : 鈥淚f a snow day comes around, we want to make sure that our kids continue to learn,鈥� adding, 鈥渟o, sorry kids! No more snow days, but it鈥檚 gonna be good for you!鈥�

Seven other states updated their laws to allow remote learning. For example, Maryland now allows up to eight days a year of remote learning 鈥� so long as five of those days include live sessions with a teacher 鈥� and Virginia鈥檚 new law allows 10 days.

By the start of the 2022-2023 school year, over three-quarters of snowy states had policies in place to significantly curtail school closures, keep students learning and prevent makeup days from stretching the school year into the summer. That鈥檚 up from half of them in the 2018-2019 school year.

For now: A wintry mix of snow days and remote learning

Within those states that allow remote learning for inclement weather, schools have actually followed three different patterns: full online transition, preserving traditional snow days or a combination of both.

Relatively few school systems 鈥� typically in metro areas like or 鈥� have followed New York City鈥檚 lead in announcing plans to move completely online during what would otherwise be snow days. There are also many school districts in very snowy locales 鈥� like New York鈥檚 snowiest district of 鈥� that will not be using remote learning days.

However, the most common approach across the nation will be a mix of remote learning and snow days depending on local conditions. For example, in , the superintendent announced that remote learning would be used under the new Maryland policy only 鈥渁s a last resort鈥� after the five makeup days in the calendar were exhausted. In West Virginia, schools will use a portion of their allotted nontraditional instruction days but reserve an 鈥渙ld-fashioned snow day鈥� for students.

The nostalgic sentiment for preserving the snow day tradition was epitomized in a viral post from Jefferson County, West Virginia, Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson, who on the first snow day of last year that school would be 鈥渃losed for students 鈥� closed for virtual 鈥� closed for staff.鈥� She said, 鈥淔or generations, families have greeted the first snow day of the year with joy. 鈥� It is a time of renewed wonder at all the things that each season holds. A reminder of how fleeting a childhood can be. An opportunity to make memories with your family that you will hold onto for life.鈥�

For many families this winter, the possibility of a snow day remains. When the first major storm of the 2022 winter season bore down on western New York with as much as 6 feet of snow, students in the region waited anxiously for pending school decisions: Buffalo Public Schools chose to , but neighboring Niagara Falls canceled.

The day may well come when remote learning replaces snow days. But for now, children can continue with rituals to 鈥� and hope not only for a snow day, but for a day without remote learning too.

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