Thursday, June 25, 2020

ICEUFTBLOG VERY UNOFFICIAL 2020-2021 NYC SCHOOL CALENDAR (Updated September 5, 2020 as DOE official one is released finally)

Link to official DOE Calendar Page.

I tried to make an educated guess on what a NYC school calendar will look like for 2020-2021. To make this guesstimate, I first examined the dates for holidays on a regular calendar. I then looked at past DOE calendars to see how the school year was structured when the days of the week fell on the same days as 2020-2021. Finally, I looked at some surrounding school districts to compare. 

Not surprisingly,  many school districts have already released their calendars for 2020-2021, even though they know it might still be remote learning or blended learning in the fall. All of those days should count as school days. Finally, I asked Reality Based Educator to look my calendar over for some peer review.

This is extremely preliminary before any new givebacks from the UFT like on spring break or UFT screwups like having school on Monday, December 23, 2019 that at least was reversed. We helped propel the resistance to that unforced UFT error. This year, winter recess won't start until December 24, which comes on a Thursday. Besides new Mulgrew concessions, the calendar below is also subject to changes based on the whims of an egomaniacal governor or an incompetent mayor and chancellor. If any of you see some errors, please alert me.


Very Unofficial ICEUFTBlog 2020-2021 NYC DOE Calendar

Tuesday, September 8, 2020: Teachers, Paras report

Thursday, September 10, 2020: First day of school for students
Wednesday, September 16, 2020: First day of learning for all students which will be all remote for everyone from home for September 16, 17 and 18)

Monday, September 21, 2020: First day for in school learning for some families that have chosen blended learning. Please check with individual schools to see the days when school buildings are open for particular children.

Monday, September 28, 2020: Yom Kippur, schools closed

Monday, October 12, 2020: Columbus Day, schools closed

Tuesday, November 3, 2020: Election Day,  fully remote instructional day for all students

Tuesday, November 3, 2020: Election Day, schools closed for students, staff report for torture in many schools, staff development in others

Wednesday, November 11, 2020: Veteran's Day, schools closed

Thursday, November 26 - Friday November 27: Thanksgiving Recess, schools closed

Thursday, December 24, 2020 - Friday, January 1, 2021: Winter Recess, schools closed

Monday, January 18, 2021: Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day, schools closed

Friday, February 12, 2021: Lunar New Year, schools closed

Monday, February 15, 2021 - Friday, February 19, 2021: Midwinter Recess, schools closed

Monday, March 29, 2021 - Friday, April 2, 2021: Spring Break, schools closed (Update: This includes Good Friday and Passover--Whether we get a sixth day off and even a seventh day usually depends on when Good Friday and Passover fall. A reader said to look at 2000-2001 where we only got five days. I am convinced the UFT will not push for or get Easter Monday.)

Thursday, May 13, 2021: Eid al-Fitr, schools closed

Monday, May 31, 2021: Memorial Day, schools closed

Thursday, June 3, 2021: Anniversary Day, schools closed for students, staff report for BS Staff Development

Thursday, June 10, 2021: Anniversary Day, schools closed for students, staff feport for BS Staff Development
 
Friday, June 25, 2020: Last day day of school for students 

Monday, June 28, 2021: Last day of school for students, teachers and paras



I count 183 school days for teachers so there won't be many extra snow days next year if this is the final calendar. Maybe just two. I kind of agree with Anon 2323 who stated that snow days may be turned into remote learning days from now on.


57 comments:

Anonymous said...

We dont want you to make an unofficial calendar, we know when holidays are, that is not the point. The point is for the uft to earn the $1600 a year we are each paying.

Anonymous said...

"Besides new Mulgrew concessions, the calendar below is also subject to changes based on the whims of an egomaniacal governor or an incompetent mayor and chancellor."

This says it all. But keep paying for a corrupt system which nobody fixes. The strongest union in the country, right?


Anonymous said...

James, with layoffs presumably on the table, I'm a little less concerned with the calendar and wondering how many days remain until the NY media starts attacking LIFO again. If the federal gov't doesn't come through, layoffs will surely happen, and I'm pretty sure there will be a momentum building to eradicate LIFO under the guise of "keeping the best and brightest."

Anonymous said...

I thought mulgrew and carranza were brothers from different mothers. Mulgrew said that. You call him incompetent. I'm confused.

Anonymous said...

Less than .01% of UFT members are quitting. You have failed miserably in getting defections.

James Eterno said...

I agree with you that LIFO should be on our minds. However, an attack on teacher seniority will be an attack on all of labor's seniority. NYS AFLCIO would oppose strongly and it would be dead in the heavily Democratic and NYC oriented State Assembly.

Elections matter. It was the Bloomberg funded Republican controlled NY Senate that voted to end teacher reverse seniority layoffs in 2011 only for NYCbut the Democratically controlled State Assembly under Sheldon Silver killed it.

Anon2323 said...

Thanks for agreeing! No way we will have snow days, they will recommend that students do remote assignments posted to have continued learning.

What happens to the snow days we did not use this year on top of the extra days we worked for break?

There are small spikes in states I cannot see New York not getting a spike, try to remain optimistic!

Anonymous said...

James, your calendar is pretty good, although I tried this myself and disagree with you on two points:

Spring Recess
By my calculations, this will be the shortest spring recess (OK...I guess not as bad as 2020) of all time because of the alignment of Easter and Passover. I think we'll be working Monday, April 5 because both Passover and Easter will be over by then. (The year you reference where we had two Mondays and two Tuesdays off was 2010, but in that year Passover ended two days later than it does in 2021)

Eid al-Fitr
I think we will have Thursday, May 13 not Wednesday, May 12 off. The College Board has already announced a free make-up day of AP exams for students closed on May 13.

What about Monday, February 1? Shouldn't that be a staff torture day in high schools with the spring term beginning Tuesday, February 2?

James Eterno said...

Snow days are use them or lose them.

Anonymous said...

And yes, I agree that snow days are long gone

Anonymous said...

Deblassio also said JUneteenth would be a school holiday, but it falls on a Saturday next year so it's a wash for us.

James Eterno said...

I changed the post Anon 2323 to reflect that you were the source of that information.

James Eterno said...

2:45, Thanks for input.

You are right about Eid al-Fitr. I saw that it started on May 12 so I put that date down. I didn't see it was sundown. I fixed it. That's why I asked for peer review.

As for Easter, when it comes on Sunday, we normally get the Monday. I haven't seen a calendar where we did not have six school days off for spring break or five for spring break and one for Good Friday if Passover and Easter were nowhere near each other on calendar. You may be right. I hope not. Next spring, if there is an effective vaccine, could be our next best chance for a mostly worry free international vacation.

I haven't looked up when Regents exams are to figure out that staff development day at the end of the fall term in high schools.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and tell that repulsive faux Irishman (not that we want him, btw) Mulgrew that St. Patrick's Day should be a holiday also. There’s a heck of a lot of Irish American teachers I know, and none have a O’, Mc or Mac in front of their names, and plenty of Black and Latin kids that also claim Irish ancestry.

Anonymous said...

James,

I’m thinking that hopefully from now on, torture sessions on Election Day and in June Pd day can be done from home. Think of how much money the doe would save alone on bagels and coffee on those days?

This year was the best June Pd day ever. I logged into zoom and went to play golf! Lol

Joe

Anonymous said...

James, Easter always comes on a Sunday and we have not always had the next day (Monday) off. We always get Good Friday off, but the rest of the break if based on when Passover falls. In 2016, for example, Easter was Sunday, March 27, but we had to teach Monday, March 28. While you are right that we have always had six days off as long as I can remember, we have never had Passover end on the same day as Easter as long as I've been in the system.

In April, the state updated the Regents exam dates for 2020-21:
January 26-30, 2021
June 1, 2021 (revised date for new U.S. History exam originally schedule for June 2, 2020)
June 16-25, 2021

Anonymous said...

Election Day is only a half-day of torture now. As long as you are a registered voter you have the choice to come in three hours late or leave three hours early.

Anonymous said...

Last week the state took down all of the exam dates and memos about the 2021 Regents exams.
What do you think that means?

Anonymous said...

Not true about spring break, James. Look up the old NYC BOE calendars for the 1993-1994 and 2000-2001 school years. In 2001 and 1994, the last two times when Passover and Easter ended on the same day, we had a short spring break with only five days off. Sadly, the Jewish holidays in 2020-2021 fall on the worst possible days for NYC teachers.

Thank God for Lunar New Year, which will give us a long midwinter break.

Anonymous said...

Are we seriously arguing about spring break?

Lets get the spring break pay that we just were promised.

James Eterno said...

1993-94 was as asbestos year where we lost a week for asbestos in schools but I will give you 2000-2001 and make the adjustment. That school year had 189 days. Then chancellor Harold O Levy was not our friend.

Anonymous said...

189 days? Jesus Christ!

Which chancellor was our friend?

James Eterno said...

Who promised you spring break pay?

James Eterno said...

Rudy Crew and Joe Fernandez were pro-teacher. We got C6 with Crew and no collection of lesson plans under Fernandez. We got retirement incentives under those two chancellors also. It's been one horrible chancellor after another since then.

Anonymous said...

James and 7:18, looking at the old calendars it seems like it was even worse: 190 days if you taught in Manhattan, the Bronx, or Staten Island.

A question for the old timers: all of the calendars that are 20 or more years old have the high school fall semester ending on January 31 no matter which days the January Regents were given and the spring semester starting on February 1. How did that work? Did you used to get extra non-teaching days after Regents week until classes resumed on February 1?

Anonymous said...

UFT pres said they have the right to negotiate a compensation package. That means what to you? And that was in addition to the 4 car days.

Anonymous said...

conn just announced they are opening schools in sept.All students

Anonymous said...

Yes, Easter always falls on Sunday and true we have had to go in the Monday following. I noticed when Easter fell in March we got only Good Friday off and we had a week later in April. Also Mac is a Scottish name not Irish. Mc is Irish.

James Eterno said...

Right to negotiate a compensation package does not guarantee pay for those extra days work but I hope it happens. The UFT will try.

Let me take a look at my old notes on when we started teaching in the spring way back when. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall spring term always started Feb 1 unless it was on a weekend. Sabbaticals for spring start Feb 1. It is a more recent development for spring semester to begin earlier. We waited for it to be Feb 1 to start spring. I recall we had many Regents and RCT exams to mark. I also remember we were not annualized back then at all with a few exceptions. If you failed Math 1, you did not go to Math 2. Therefore, programming spring was tight in those last couple of days in January. Now most schools that I know just push kids to second semester of courses.

Anonymous said...

Off topic but a commenter on one of your posts warned us teachers' records would be next once they were successful with publicizing cops' records. Well Fox News started on teachers' records last night. Jesse Waters on The Five said it. I think Cuomo will come after our records next and we'll see the NY Post gladly print every accusation made against teachers. First they came after cops and I said nothing because I wasn't a cop...

Anonymous said...

As we don't look forward to next year, this could also be coming to a school near you. Teachers will be next.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie is introducing a bill that would change the way police officers are held accountable in court by eliminating qualified immunity, which shields public officials from any legal liability unless the rights they violated were “clearly established,” the Daily News reports.

Shelley said...

When the Governor used his emergency powers to cancel Spring Break and MM agreed that it needed to be canceled MM either lied to members when he said that teachers would still be off Thursday and Friday — April 9-10 — for the first two days of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which coincided with the Christian Holy Thursday and Good Friday that precede Easter or he forgot or neglected to get these days when he, without any objections or demands or concerns easily conceded to the emergency power move by the governor who was later echoed by the Chancellor and the Mayor. Did he lie or was it a matter of neglect and incompetence? I'll give MM the benefit of the doubt and say that he didn't lie. He simply didn't know that the holy days would be taken too. Why didn't he know this? Did it never come up? I doubt it. Did someone lie to him? MM did publicly express his displeasure with the decision and added something about 4 car days teachers might use to meet their religious obligations, that teachers and students and parents would probably not show up and so on.

But even if we give MM the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't lie to us and even when we put in the context of the pandemic and the feverish moments when the powerful from Washington to Albany to NYC were panicking, we still see a pattern of weakness and incompetence. MM is not very good at his job. But this is how it goes in government.

I watched Randi give a speech in the North Country, up in Massena NY. She came in, opened a can of phrases, with all the tired cliches of the Clinton/Obama/Biden crew, with fake emotion and total disconnect from the workers, the families, the devastated community. Like Cuomo's speech there, her too little too late didn't resonate. The people, those that were still there and had done all the heavy lifting to save what was left of a community, had been lied to too many times, had suffered under people with power who neglected them.

It's no wonder Trump came along. His base has been characterized by the liberal and neo-liberal Dems as deplorables, as racist, as hillbillies and gun toting backward bible belt fanatics. But 45 got a lot of votes. Read his inaugural address. Yeah, I know it was written by two white supremacists, and I know 45 is a racist pig and so on.

But all those votes.

I've been looking at calendars too.
It's not 1968. It's not the summer of love. It's not 1975 (Ford to NYC Drop Dead).

There is now more support for the BLM movement than there was for MLK at his peak popularity when he gave his famous I Have Dream Speech.

There is a movement and it is going to make changes. The teachers need new leadership. The old Dem establishment is ineffective and out of touch.

We await the teachers movement.

Anonymous said...

Well said, Shelley

Anonymous said...

@James 7:22
Why is getting C6 under Crew considered a win?

Anonymous said...

Who are you counting on Shelley, MORE? Read their latest email. They are going to PERB because nobody will show them the MOU that says the grievance process is suspended but will be started again in the fall. They can file grievances from March then. This is a group of leftists using a state agency to sue their union. ICE and New Action are mostly retirees and Solidarity has shown no growth anywhere.

Are you starting a movement?

Anonymous said...

It's ridiculous that Election Day (especially in a Presidential year) is not a day off.

Anonymous said...

We need the entire school year to continue to become "trained Marxists" and to "burn it all down if our demands are not met."

Anonymous said...

In September, Storm the Bastille!

James Eterno said...

C6 was a huge win when we got it in 1996. It went into effect in 1997. It gave the chapter committee a veto over all comp time including programmer, deans and grade advisor. All other comp time positions had to be agreed to by 75% of UFT staff. The principal was compelled to play nice with the UFT staff to get much of what was needed to run secondary schools. C6 also got teachers out of cafeteria and hall duty unless we wanted it. To get around having a staff vote, principals created cafeteria deans. They were nicknamed the dean of cuisine. Dean of cuisine still had to get past the CL and her/his committee. C6 expanded shortage area pay for a 6th period teaching assignment to non-shortage areas. In addition, teachers picked their own professional assignment and most were self directed. The CL and her/his committee had to agree upon each position for it to even get on the menu of choices. C6 basically gave teachers control over their professional period. It was a huge gain.

C6 didn't come for free. We paid for it by taking two years of 0% raises in good economic times in the 1990s. Randi Weingarten gave some of C6 back in 2002 and most of the rest in 2005. Chapter leaders, chapter committees and chapters were a major check on principal power when C6 was fully implemented from 1997-2002. The 2005 contract ended most of it by shortening the menu and leaving it to principals again to assign professional assignments but some of the remnants of c6 are still in place today.

Michael Mulgrew failed big time in the 2014 contract when he did not insist on getting back everything Randi gave away in 2005 in exchange for loaning the city interest free the retro we were owed from 2009-2011.

Anonymous said...

Shelly- Mulgrew knew damn well at his pre-Spring Break Town Hall that we were losing the 9th and 10th of April. He sloughed over it-but many heard him say (almost under his breath) "If they still give those days to us". I also heard him say that there aren't many people left in the system waiting on a large chunk of retro money in October, so that can be used as a bargaining chip (or words to that effect). Lord only knows what THAT means.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I would very much rather be part of a union than not. I try to be as active in my school's chapter as possible. I'm on the consultation committee and make an effort to bring the hard issues to my CL's attention. But I have ZERO faith in MM, because he is either totally lacking in cajones, or is the world's biggest ass-kissing sycophant who is only in this for his personal gain.

Anon2323 said...

WHOA WHOA WHOA, With the crap and extra days we did Winter break would be absurd!!

12/19-1/4 (FRIDAY 18TH SHOULD BE LAST DAY). It is supposed to be one of our best winter breaks in years. THAT WOULD BE A PETTY TERRIBLE BREAK!

Anon2323 said...

I SAW JAMES! THANKS FOR SHOUT OUT!

Anonymous said...

No balls and he is the world's biggest ass-kissing sycophant.

Anon2323 said...

IT is sad people likE AOC want small businesses closed and shut down to take down Trump just like Bill Maher wanted economic recession to take down trump. Millions of families hurt just to take down Trump for Biden (one of worst candidates I could imagine for dems, worse than Clinton!)

dem or republican please watch this 12 min video and tell me the dems are not doing the same thing they did in 1898 to Blacks to what going on with Trump.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=1898+wilimgton+massacre&&view=detail&mid=6C8CEFC96FE39CC2F3C46C8CEFC96FE39CC2F3C4&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3D1898%2Bwilimgton%2Bmassacre%26FORM%3DHDRSC4

Anonymous said...

Trump is trying to end the Affordable Care Act. If passed it will leave many, who are now unemployed (and perhaps many NYC teachers who will be next fall or winter) without coverage. The reason I mention it is because I know working teachers that plan on voting for Trump. Most, but not all of them, are young. All are intelligent and well read. Rethink your position. The racially divisive language of some on the left and stereotyping by many in the upper echelons of the DOE (as well as the silence concerning it from the UFT) is helping Trump and turning once die hard liberals into silent Trump supporters. Looting, tearing down monuments, burning and defacing churches under the slogan of BLM and expecting White folks to be guilt ridden, fawning sycophants isn’t what White teachers signed up for as teachers or White folks in general are going to tolerate. No one is going out of their way to vote for the weakest Democratic candidate imaginable - they will however do so for Trump. I despise Trump, but fear and anger will propel him into a second term. And it was never hillbillies that got him elected, it was those who felt they no longer had a voice, especially inside the Democratic and Republican Party, and ironically some of the same people that voted for Bernie and AOC. Many of those folk now won’t vote at all. The media is clueless - stop listening to them. Everything being written is click bait - they don’t have a clue about anything.

Anonymous said...

To follow up to the comment made about Jesse Watters on Fox News calling for teacher records, I saw this segment live, and that is not what he said. He sarcastically asked if teacher records should be made public while criticizing the idea of having police records be public. He then continued to say that by making people's records public would put a target on their back. He was using another public union example to show how ridiculous of an idea it is.

Anonymous said...

@GovMurphy
You've got to kidding?

So adults have to wear masks in school next year, but students are not required to do so under new NJ guidelines.

Also, districts have to do some on-site learning.

Gonna be a lot of sick/dead people in NJ next year based on this insanity.

Anonymous said...

If Ny opens like NJ, I resign, i will deal with the money loss. Not worth serious illness or death.

Anonymous said...

there will be no more snow days ever, so they can give more holidays off if they want. All future snow days will be remote work from home days...the days of snow days has come to an end!

Eric said...

NEW: "New Jersey’s 2,500 public schools will open their doors for the 2020-2021 school year, but classes will be unlike anything students and teachers have ever experienced before, state officials announced Friday."

@PhilMurphyNJ
doesn't care about teachers, that's for sure. NJ is forcing onsite learning next year in some capacity, but not requiring masks for students. Only adults have to wear them.

Students will be "encouraged" to wear masks unless they cannot maintain social distancing of six feet, in which case they're supposed to wear masks.

What an awful policy.

If you're gonna mandate in-session school, then REQUIRE masks from EVERYBODY at all times.

All districts will be required to have some form of in-person instruction, state officials said. So, keeping school buildings closed for district-wide remote learning is not an option. But schools can develop a “hybrid” model with both in-person and distance learning for students

Anonymous said...

Meet Clair Hall, formally known as Bill Hall. This is the commissioner in Lincoln county, Oregon who mandated that face masks are required, but only if you’re white.

Anonymous said...

No mention at White House press conference on the surge of illegals contributing to the higher Covid case rate. Which states are surging again? ...

Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California

James Eterno said...

You guys went way off the rails here. This was about next year's calendar. Since Election Day is on it, I guess the politics is okay but please no crime stats and try to keep it close to the topic. We've attracted many new readers lately. I would like to keep them coming back.

Noel said...

Honestly, I preferred doing hallway or cafeteria duty every 3rd semester than tge crap we had/have to endure with professional punishment or common punishment with C6 today. Principals zero out every meaningful item from the nenu.

James Eterno said...

The administration could not zero out meaningful items from the menu of C6 activities from 1997-2005. Chapter had to agree to all or it went to a UFTBOE committee that was often favorable.

Anonymous said...

What about Rosh Hashanah?

James Eterno said...

It's on the weekend this year.