NYC parents talk about ‘crazy’ number of school holidays – as number of days off continues to rise
Are these extra school holidays a great thing?
For many NYC parents of public school students, the answer is a resounding yes. With students in the Big Apple now only in school for 176 days each year — with the longest spring break, which currently runs from April 2 to 10 — some parents are frustrated by their children’s extra time off, forced to meet work demands and find additional childcare at the same time.
Young Gothamites are scheduled to log 130 fewer hours in the classroom than the national average, which includes 20 missed school days in total.
Although New York state law mandates that students be in school for at least 180 days, students in the Big Apple lose teachers to four “development days” – which the state considers an exception to this rule – and two partial days of parent-teacher conferences.
This year, students in the city again lost a day due to the February storm – which will not be reviewed, as Mayor Mamdani got the freedom from the government to end the 180-day rule this time.
Now, distraught parents are arguing over the matter.
Jill Di Donato, a Brooklyn-based freelance writer/consultant and single mother of 7-year-old second-grader Estela, shared that while she supports New York City schools including religious holidays and giving children adequate time off in general, it can put her in a difficult position as a mother and staff member.
“If I don’t celebrate the holiday with my child, I have two options — I can take a day off work and spend time with him, which is a gift in itself, or I have to pay from my income to get special camps designed for these holidays that cater to families,” she said. “They can be very expensive – $100 to $300 per day per child.”
Others expressed their desperation on Reddit, including the topic DOE/School Breaks, where a user asked, “There are too many weeks on the calendar when kids aren’t in school. What are parents doing?”
“Just use it in your Berkshires/Hamptons house while the babysitter takes care of it,” one user posted sarcastically, garnering 76 upvotes. “Wait, you said public school? No, I have no solutions. It’s crazy out here.”
“Yeah, it’s hard,” commented one user. “I get 21 days off, and my wife doesn’t work, so that’s how we stretch ourselves. I don’t know how working parents do this. Don’t get me started on summer vacation being 10 weeks, but most camps I’ve seen are 6 or 8 weeks. How the hell is that?”
Di Donato feels the problem isn’t just NYC schools, either — a system that is “not designed to support working families, no matter what.”
“I always work in pockets where I can after (normal) hours,” said Di Donato. “This program is not designed to fit the way I live, but I make it work for me.”
