New York City cancels school on December 23
NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's a Christmas miracle!
New York City has revised its school calendar and canceled all classes on Monday, December 23.
This comes after a push by the Movement of Rank & File Educators (MORE), the social caucus of the teachers union United Federation of Teachers (UFT), who petitioned the DOE to reconsider the decision to make December 23 a school day. According to its petition, the last four times that December 23 fell on a Monday, there was no school, with the most recent in the 2013-2014 school year.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the union, called it "absurd to open school for one day and then close for break. It is not cost-effective. There are other alternatives."
When the 2019-2020 school calendar was released by the education department at the end of April, educators immediately took issue with the single-day workweek just before Christmas.
"Every year, we work towards a calendar that meets the needs of students and families, and in response to feedback, we have adjusted the calendar and will close school on December 23. We are communicating with students, staff, and families in order to give them time to appropriately plan for this schedule change," the education department said in a statement.
Students and staff will return to school on January 2, 2020.
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