NYC public schools experience issues with remote learning after forgoing snow day

A New York City schools student sits in front of her computer during remote learning

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – New York City’s public schools were experiencing issues with remote learning Tuesday as students tried to log on during the snowstorm.

“We are currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to login,” education officials wrote on X shortly after 8 a.m., adding they were working with IBM to resolve the issue.

By 9:30 a.m., they said, “IBM has added capacity and improvements are rolling out across the system.”

Queens Councilmember Shekar Krishnan posted a photo on social media showing a “service unavailable” screen on the city’s remote learning system.

“A million kids logging on at once, what could go wrong?” Krishnan wrote. “Should’ve just given them the damn snow day!”

The Education Department faced some pushback after announcing Monday that students wouldn’t get a snow day during the most impactful snowstorm to hit the city since January 2022.

“Long gone are the days of just a snow day, and everybody just has off,” Schools Chancellor David Banks said at a storm briefing with Mayor Eric Adams.

Schools Chancellor David Banks and Mayor Eric Adams hold a winter storm briefing on Monday

Banks said he felt the city’s public school system was “more than prepared” for quick pivots to remote learning thanks to the pandemic.

Pressed by reporters as to why the city didn’t cancel school altogether so kids could enjoy a snow day as in times past, the chancellor said, “By 3 o’clock, the school day is over. They’ll have plenty of time to get out into the snow and still have some fun. So, we don’t want the kids to not have fun. I’m not a Grinch.”

Adams agreed, saying, city school kids have a lot of catching up to do after the pandemic. “We need to minimize how many days our children are just sitting at home making snowmen like I did, and they need to catch up,” the mayor said.

Meanwhile, many Catholic schools are closed for a “traditional snow day,” with no remote learning planned.