Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday that the one-day school week prior to the start of Christmas vacation has been canceled.
Kids are off from December 24 to January 2. Normally, there's no issue. This year, though, Christmas Eve falls on a Tuesday, which means kids would just show up to school for one day after their weekend and then take an extended break.
Talk about early travel plain spoiler.
According to Chalkbeat, Adams' decision comes after a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy appealed to his administration and the larger student body. He started a Change.org petition, exchanging the December 23 class day for another day at the end of the year, which would make the last day Friday, June 27.
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As of Wednesday, the boy's petition had more than 22,000 signatures.
As he writes, "My name is Isaac and I'm a 7th grader in Brooklyn, New York. I love to think about calendars and I noticed a problem: Winter Break is scheduled to start on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, which means we will have a one-day week before the break.
This doesn’t make sense. Attendance will be very low that day. Kids whose families have travel plans will have to change their plans or be marked absent. Kids and teachers will feel annoyed, and kids won’t get to learn anything or have a party with all of their friends (because of the low attendance)."
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In the announcement Wednesday, the mayor's office says the state's 180-day school year requirement will still be met.
“Winter break this school year will now start one day early, on December 23rd, so that everyone can enjoy the extra time with family and friends,” Adams said. “We know that a one-day week would not be well attended — so this just makes good sense. Our children’s education will not be short-changed, so we will still maintain the required 180 days of instruction. I want to thank the teachers, parents, and our labor partners at the UFT who helped us make this good sense decision.”
