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New York children who attend public school experienced both the highest high and lowest low in the span of 24 hours this week. On Monday, as the Tri-State area was pounded by a historic blizzard, they got to enjoy a snow day, only to find themselves forced to go to school on Tuesday through snowy streets. The decision had many parents scratching their heads as well, as they thought remote learning was designed for days like Tuesday; the sheer sight of streets overwhelmed with snow on “The Forgotten Borough” of Staten Island only compounded the move. Frank Morano (R-51) is the City Councilmember who currently represents the borough he has called home for his whole life; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning to laud the Sanitation Department’s effort but deride the Board of Ed for not using a little common sense.
Morano told host Larry Mendte he found humor in the fact that, while the kids trudged off in the snow to get to school, the adult events for the Board of Ed today were canceled: “The irony of all ironies is the schools chancellor was supposed to have an event today, and he canceled it for inclement weather. The CSA, the union that represents the principals, they were supposed to have an event today; they canceled it due to inclement weather. The UFT is telling their members, if you don’t feel comfortable and safe getting to work today, stay home. You have to wonder what’s the constituency for not pursuing remote learning today… [with] streets that were totally and inadequately plowed.”
Morano made a historical comparison to emphasize the lunacy of the landscape: “If you looked at the imagery either of the plow map at PlowNYC or the overhead cameras that exist in Midtown, and you compared that to what was going on in Staten Island, it was the difference between East and West Berlin.”
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