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It was a rough 'June-cember' at NYC schools. Here's why.
By
Jessica Gould
and
Joe Hong
Published Jun 26, 2025
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Lya Cattel/Getty Images
By
Jessica Gould
and
Joe Hong
Published Jun 26, 2025
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June-cember (/jo͞on sembər/): That month of the school year marked by rising temperatures, graduations, celebrations, a barrage of field trips and the disruption of standardized testing. It’s a season that turns academic routines upside down, leaves parents scrambling their work schedules and often leads to a dip in attendance.
But this June was particularly rough for many parents, teachers and students.
Some educators say unusually sweltering heat, two holidays that fell toward the end of the week — why show up for Friday then? — plus a time-consuming regimen of Regents Exams have not only disrupted the last month of much-needed instructional time for students across the city, but also may have contributed to a sharp decrease in student attendance compared to previous years.
"School feels like it ended weeks ago," said Lauren Turner, whose daughter is a city public school student.
Students reported similar vibes. "There's no actual work in June, pretty much," said Roque Silvagnoli, a junior at Pace High School. "Everyone is pretty checked out."
There have also been concerns that immigration enforcement under the Trump administration could also prompt some families to keep their children out of school.
Daily attendance data posted publicly by New York City Public Schools shows that more than half of city schools had lower average attendance rates this June compared to the same month in 2023 and 2024, according to a Gothamist analysis. At some schools, attendance rates dropped by more than 20 percentage points.
“I call it the June swoon. The system is not taking June seriously, and children pick up on that, and they’re more vulnerable to that because regular attendance has become less of a thing,” said David Bloomfield, an education professor for Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center.
Chyann Tull, a deputy spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the data only represents a “snapshot” of daily attendance rates and is not an accurate count of student attendance. She said it takes months for the city to finalize attendance numbers.
“While the final days may include end-of-year activities, our schools will always balance celebrations with continued academic engagement,” she said.
Why was this year different?
June is always marked by dwindling attendance, said Kevin Dahill-Fuchel, executive director of Counseling in Schools, which places and supports mental health professionals in schools. But he said the quirks of the city’s Swiss cheese-like school calendar this year likely played a role in steeper declines.
“I’m 100% sure that Juneteenth being on a Thursday meant Friday [attendance] was low,” he said.
Students were also off on a Thursday for Eid al-Adha even though the Muslim holy day was actually on Friday, meaning observant middle and high schoolers who did have school that Friday were less likely to attend. The calendar snafu also led the education department to suddenly make that Friday a work-from-home day for some teachers, as Chalkbeat reported, creating headaches for both teachers and administrators.
The department’s data shows that a majority of schools had lower attendance rates the day after Juneteenth and Eid al-Adha compared to their overall averages for June.
”This becomes a checkerboard of days off,” Bloomfield said. “It's really hard to get traction for your class and your teaching when you have so many interruptions.”
Bloomfield said lingering post-pandemic attitudes may be adding to the drop-off. After getting accustomed to not being in school, he said, many parents and students have yet to completely readjust to being on campus every day, even nearly four years later.
“We have to be a lot more serious about going to school for full days,” Bloomfield said.
But in a city where only about a third of students read at grade level, he said it’s imperative that educators fill all school days with quality instructional time, and students and parents recognize the importance of staying engaged through the end of the year.
“We have to be a lot more serious about going to school for full days,” Bloomfield said.
Neverending field trips
Kim Skadan feels those COVID-era parallels. As the parent of two elementary schoolers in Brooklyn, she said the crush of end-of-year holidays and celebrations, while joyful, puts additional pressure on parents to either find child care or make do. On top of that, aftercare ended early at many schools.
”It’s like you bring your kids home and then you set them up with a screen and then you try to work the balance of the day, because we still have to work,” she said.
The inconsistency can be especially hard for kids who count on routines, like one of her children, who is neurodivergent. ”These disruptions in scheduling are extremely difficult for him to manage and process,” she said.
Some schools are also cramming in a lot of field trips at the tail end of the year, adding to the discombobulation and pressure on parents to chaperone.
”We had a carnival two weeks ago that I sort of felt guilted into volunteering for,” Skadan said. “It's just a lot of obligations.”
Put to the test
June is one of three months in the year when many students take state Regents Exams, the standardized tests required for graduation. Students have to take five Regents Exams to graduate, though that requirement will change in a couple years.
At some schools, if classrooms are filled with test-takers and teachers are busy proctoring, students who aren’t taking Regents exams are allowed to stay home, or simply choose to – even if they aren’t.
Dahill-Fuchel said students who don’t feel prepared for Regents and other exams, tend to stop showing up, and seniors who are already accepted to college may drop off as well. “The older kids are feeling that breakaway time.”
ICE
Educators said attendance by migrant students has also fluctuated in recent months as the Trump administration increased detentions of undocumented immigrants.
Multiple teachers told Gothamist right after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January that they noticed more absences among immigrant students.
Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos testified before state lawmakers in early February that fear of ICE raids might be one of the factors leading to a decline in attendance at that time. But Mayor Eric Adams downplayed the impact, saying there was no “mass exodus” from city schools, and that freezing temperatures, flu season, and testing had also played a role in a temporary dip.
According to the education department, immigration authorities have not attempted to enter any schools. A department spokesperson said administrators do not believe deportation threats have decreased attendance.
But some educators said ICE raids across the country this month, and the recent detentions of two public school students, ramped up fears among families at the tail end of the school year.
“Kids I teach feel threatened,” Queens High School teacher Aixa Rodriguez said at a meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy last week.
Bloomfield said he believes the ICE raids have had some impact.
“Certainly the immigration issue is one factor I would ascribe some of this decline to.”
Tagged
education
new york city
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Joe Hong
Joe Hong is the investigative data reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered K-12 education for several newsrooms across California. His reporting has led to local reforms in juvenile justice system as well as a state law requiring universal screening for dyslexia. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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