New York City teachers will stay home Thursday as clouds of smoke from Canadian wildfires continue to descend on the five boroughs, according to texts from the teachers union to its members.
School employees will participate in pre-scheduled professional development sessions from home, as students have the day off for the obscure school holiday Anniversary Day — previously known as Brooklyn-Queens Day.
A petition posted on change.org demanding remote work while students were out of class had reached close to 8,000 signatures within seven hours before the shift was announced.
“Our staff working remotely will not negatively impact families or children since no students are supposed to be in attendance these days,” read a statement on Change.org. “However, this decision is crucial for the safety and well-being of our educators and their families.
Hazardous air quality conditions Wednesday led to cancelations of outdoor activities in New York City at public schools, along with planned concerts, sporting events and other happenings across the city. School took place as scheduled, but principals were directed to move indoors or cancel recess, field trips, sports and other school-sponsored events scheduled for outside, according to an education department memo sent after midnight.
It was not immediately clear whether teachers were prepared to switch to virtual sessions.
A memo from the chief operating officer of the public schools, Emma Vadehra, went out late Wednesday directing principals to tell “all staff remaining in the building” to bring home laptops and other necessary materials, in case school buildings were shuttered.
The last-minute directive came as Mayor Adams faced heat from some public school parents and political critics, who accused him of slow-walking a government response.
Adams countered at a Wednesday morning briefing that “there’s no blueprint or playbook for these types of issues.”
The transition to virtual sessions had support among a number of local politicians and advocates.
“I am calling for @NYCSchools staff to be permitted to work remotely tomorrow, especially since students will have off due to Brooklyn Queens Day,” wrote Councilwoman Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the education committee, on Twitter.