Bucking a regional trend, Chancellor Cathie Black announced early this morning that schools would open as usual this morning. She later added that after-school activities and sports will take place as planned.
But that doesn’t mean that today will be a regular school day. We’re hearing from teachers in our comments and on Twitter that snow is wreaking havoc on their schools. And in the Community section, high school teacher Dana Lawit writes that having low attendance is just as disruptive as having an actual snow day. Send us your stories and pictures.
“Thanks Bloomberg. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know how running a daycare felt. Today’s going to be chaos,” wrote BNiche, an elementary school special education teacher, early this morning.
A little later, he wrote, “Wow. 26 teachers absent. Wow.” Twenty minutes later, he updated that tally: “Scratch that. Make that 30. 30!” As the school day began, he wrote once more: “So far, 10 out of 32 students present.”
Middle school teacher Deven Black, who commutes from Nyack, wrote after he learned Cathie Black’s 5 a.m. decision, “I just got notice that NYC schools will be open. To get to school on time I would have had to leave 45 mins ago. Why do they wait so long?”
A little while later, he revealed his plans for the day. “I’ve been trying to call sub-central as required for a half hour and the line is constantly busy,” he wrote. “I guess I’m not the only one not going in.”
Teacher C, who teaches science in Brooklyn, went to school, but she wasn’t anticipating all of her students to do the same thing. “I hope I win the “How many kids will actually show up today?” bet,” she wrote. “I guessed 65% of our enrollment.”
And students who do show up might not be prepared. A city student (and Justin Bieber fan) who posts Twitter updates as RunAfterBiebs wrote this morning, “WTF MAN. Theres a freaking snow storm and the mayor opened up schools. I did no h.w and my parents are making me go. WAHHH IM ABOUT 2 FLIP.”
We’re also hearing from parents who report smooth sailing to their children’s schools today. “This was arguably the easiest commute (and yes, we commute) my child and I have had all school year,” wrote Tim in a comment on GothamSchools. “From what we could see, the highways are absolutely spotless, the major arterial streets are just about clear, all of our neighborhood’s and our school’s neighborhood’s secondary streets were clear, the Parks Dept and MTA had gotten to many sidewalks and staircases, and any sidewalk in front of a business was clear.”