NYC Students Get Another Day Off After Winter Break Outcry

NEW YORK — New York City kids will now get 12 days of Christmas break. The Department of Education has added an extra day to the winter recess for public schools after an outcry from teachers and parents.

Schools will be closed Monday, Dec. 23, the DOE announced Tuesday, giving students a dozen straight days off over the winter holidays. School will be out from Saturday, Dec. 21 through New Year's Day. Students and staff will return to school Jan. 2.

"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," DOE spokesperson Miranda Barbot said in a statement. "We are communicating with students, staff and families in order to give them time to appropriately plan for this schedule change."

The move came after teachers and parents slammed the DOE's decision to open schools for just one day before a weeklong recess scheduled to start on Christmas Eve.

The Movement of Rank & File Educators, a caucus of the United Federation of Teachers union, argued in an online petition that the one-day week "creates an unnecessary burden" for families and staff.

Many students would likely miss school to travel the Monday before Christmas, leading to low attendance and "a waste of a school day," the group said. The DOE kept students out of school the last four times Dec. 23 fell on a Monday, stretching back to 1991, according to the petition, which got more than 32,000 signatures.

"(I)t is clear that this problem was more than just a nuisance," the group said in a Wednesday statement celebrating the DOE's decision. "This win is a perfect example of what we can accomplish when educators, students, and families organize to make our voices heard."

The change means kids will have a total of 180 school days this academic year, the same number scheduled for last year, the DOE said.