De Blasio, Farina...what were you thinking? — Page 2

Goth, when parents drop the ball, schools pick up the slack with their free lunches and counseling services. When people won't take personal responsibly for their children, there really is no other choice.

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It may be CYA, Sally Bowles, but it's still Communism.

And a non-profit program like Meals on Wheel could very easily be adapted to needy children. There is no way a school cafeteria can provide a balanced, nutritional meal.

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This decision had nothing to do with nutritious meals and everything to do with the school calendar. They do not want to take away vacation days.

School union officials did mention and showed concern for the staff and school administration as well.

The last snow day the total attendance was 43% which goes to show you that no matter what De Blasio and Farina decide the parents have the last word. If they don't want to send their kids to school in this weather...they won't.

I wasn't on here all that much during the snow and forgot about this thread. But I came across the article in TheGrio today and it reminded me of it. I think DeBlasio made the right decision. New York City Public schools have been open in worse conditions than the storm we had that day.
From the article:

"According to statistics gathered by the City of New York, 78 percent of New York City public school students are eligible for a free, or reduced-price lunch. This amounts to 851,721 kids, compared to the 860,000 meals served a day.

Eighty-two percent of children in kindergarten through fifth grade are illegible for the free lunch program, the city’s youngest kids.

To receive these meals, a family’s annual income must fall below 175 percent of the federal poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four. That’s just $41,212.50.

Thirteen percent of students live in areas where the median income is actually below the poverty line. These are the types of families for whom one missed day of school likely means missed meals for their kids, or an economic scramble to make up for lost sustenance.

“I think that school closings can be seen in a larger perspective,” the administrator told theGrio. “I’ve seen students — as a classroom teacher and as an administrator — that don’t eat if they don’t come to school.”

Keeping kids safe in urban communities

Families of such limited means likely do not have the option of dependable, replacement childcare for snow emergencies, or providing it would be a severe burden.

For these students, exposure to unsafe environments would be far more unequivocal than the possible issues of commuting through messy precipitation. This would actually be preferable in many instances to the other option — a lack of professional adult supervision, which in urban areas can entail many dangers.

Some students have no families to fall back on. Last year, New York City public schools served almost 78,000 homeless children. Where would they go on a snow day?"


I worked for New York City schools briefly and I remember during orientation we were told that if buses and subways were running we should expect that school would be open.
And like someone else said...NYC public schools have only had 13 snow days since 1978. DeBlasio wasn't just correct in his decision, he was following precedent.
On snowy days, why poorer students need schools open

No one can ever win with a "centrist".

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...Meanwhile, less than two hours after kids and parents made the treacherous trek to school, Fariña canceled all after-school activities because of the bad weather. She also pulled the plug on a town-hall meeting that would have brought her to Brooklyn on Thursday night, citing “inclement weather.”

Even City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a close de Blasio ally, said schools should have been shuttered, noting, “Closing schools is a very difficult and serious decision to make, and I believe in this instance it was warranted.” Another mayoral ally, teachers-union chief Michael Mulgrew, said staying open was a “mistake,” and Public Advocate Letitia James called for a re-evaluation of the school-closing process.

In the end, only 44.65 percent of students came to class, compared with a 90 percent on an average school day, according to the city’s Department of Education. More than 165 schools reported attendance rates of 25 percent or less. PS 35 on Staten Island, where most kids depend on buses or car rides, had a mere 11 percent of students show up...

NY Post
February 14, 2014

Of course attendance was low. Who would expect it not to be? This is not a revelation.
Do you know how many thousands of kids that 44.6% of students represent? How many of those kids may not have gotten a meal if school was open? How many of those kids parents who don't get paid or lose their job if they don't show up for work (unlike teachers and school administrators who get paid sick days)? Or how many of those kids were homeless?
Are their better alternatives to addressing these problems than keeping schools open? Probably. And the Grio article I posted outlines some of these. But until those things are put in place this was absolutely the right decision to make.

Eh...like I said when I worked for NYC public schools we were told on day one than schools rarely close for weather and if subways and buses are running (which they were)schools would be open.
Again with only 13 snow days since 1978, and with schools being open in worse weather in the past, this is no surprise. And shouldn't be for anyone who CHOOSES to take a job with the NYC public schools.
I hope he makes the same decision next time. I know what it's like to come back to school and listen to kids who barely ate for days because school was closed.

I don't think "spin" has anything to do with it; it's a difference of opinion about what the best decision is. I originally thought the schools should have closed, but some of this information has made me reconsider that.

Farina said:

"Many of our kids don't get a hot lunch and, in many cases breakfast, unless they go to school. So it's still a parent's decision whether they send their kids to school or not. My decision is where the kids are safest and the most taken care of, and the answer to that is in schools. . . . Parents, as always, should exercise their own judgment with regard to their children. Safety is a top priority for the Department."

I honestly don't see what's wrong with that thinking. No one's being punished. No one is saying "Put yourself or your child in danger."

She may be a dumbass, but she made the same decision most chancellors have made over the last few decades.

First of all I didn't call anyone names.
And Carlos. How many kids is 43% of the NYC school population? That is NOT a small number of children. Do you think they would have trekked to school if their parents had other options?
*Edited to add:
43% attendance for NYC public schools equals almost HALF A MILLION kids. Not exactly a small number of kids who probably had no other options.

Updated On: 2/20/14 at 04:25 PM