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Remote learning day for NYC schools means remote chance of learning, parents say
By
Jessica Gould
Published Nov 3, 2026 at 3:23 p.m. ET
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Noam Galai/Getty Images
By
Jessica Gould
Published Nov 3, 2026 at 3:23 p.m. ET
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New York City schools were closed for Election Day — and many parents said they’d cast a vote for no more remote learning days if it were on the ballot.
For many families, the remote day kicked off with a familiar ritual that began in the pandemic: kids struggling to log on. Marie Onaga, a Brooklyn resident and mom to three kids ages 6 7, and 11, said she had pandemic flashbacks.
“I had this visceral response …. trying to get to Zoom class in time, trying to find the materials,” Onaga said.
Making sure all three kids signed on and attended classes was a herculean task.
“The Wi-Fi signal doesn't extend to all of the convenient parts of our house. So it's just been kind of a mad dash,” she said.
She praised teachers for doing their best, but she said the school calendar “just feels crazy to me.”
The remote day is tied to the city’s public school calendar, which is packed with cultural holidays. In recent years, the city has added Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year and Juneteenth to its holiday schedule. State law requires 180 instructional days.
Officials thought they had found a solution to the calendar conundrum by pivoting to remote learning during snow storms and Election Day. But when schools are closed and classes move online, parents are left scrambling to manage tech glitches and Zoom school with their own jobs.
Multiple parents told Gothamist they had difficulty logging Tuesday morning. At P.S. 130 in Windsor Terrace, parents received an email about technical delays due to the “overwhelming number of students” trying to log on to platforms.
Education department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein said the delays were brief and did not prevent kids from accessing remote classes.
"All systems remained accessible and performing well throughout the morning, and remote learning has been proceeding as planned,” she said. “This morning, the TeachHub dashboard, which directs families to remote learning platforms, experienced slower than usual response times.”
David Bloomfield, education professor emeritus at Brooklyn College and The CUNY Graduate Center, has advocated moving the public schools’ start date before Labor Day to create room in the crowded calendar and boost learning.
“Quality is sacrificed when Zoom is used to accommodate the calendar’s limited number of instructional days,” he said.
Brooklyn parent Aimee Kraft called November a “jack-o'-lantern month” with Election Day and Veterans Day off plus a half day for parent-teachers conferences in between. “I feel like there’s so many days off, there’s so much inconsistency, it just becomes really really complicated as a parent and as a professional,” said Kraft, a dentist with two kids aged 6 and 12. She suggested putting some of the holidays back on as school-days but with excused absences allowed for families’ religious and cultural observances.
Education department officials steered reporters with questions about the calendar issues to the teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers. The union’s contract with the city requires the school year begin after Labor Day.
Onaga said it’s clear teachers also struggle to manage remote days, especially teachers who are also parents. She said she watched as her first grader’s gym teacher kept shifting his video as he switched from crunches to jumping jacks, showing his own child doing remote learning in the background.
“He's a parent too,” she said. “So, it's been kind of crazy for all of us. … I just wish that we'd have an extra day of in-person instruction at some point in the year.”
Tagged
New York City News
Politics
education
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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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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