NYC schools plan pretend 'remote learning' day in June. Students are invited.

New York City Public Schools will hold a remote learning “simulation” on June 6, officials said.

The goal is to stress test the system after a meltdown on a snow day in February, when families spent hours trying to log-on to remote learning platforms.

The exercise will take place on a professional development day for staff and a day off for students. But students are invited to help by also logging on, though participation is voluntary.

Once online, students and staff will engage in a “non-instructional activity” to help test the platforms.

“In a world where extreme weather conditions are more commonplace, it is essential that our school system is prepared to pivot to virtual learning and that our students don’t lose critical instructional hours,” Schools Chancellor David C. Banks said.

In February, Banks and Mayor Eric Adams assured families that the school system was ready to go virtual during a snow day. But the system crashed as thousands of students tried to log on simultaneously, and many families were greeted with error messages.

At the time, Banks blamed IBM, which handles authentication for the virtual platforms. In a statement, a spokesperson for IBM said it has been working closely “to provide an optimized remote access experience.”

“We are grateful for the collaborative spirit in which both our organizations have put the right people, technology, capacity, and processes in place to deliver for the NYCPS community,” said Vanessa Hunt, IBM's senior state executive for New York.

Some students and parents have decried the decision to replace snow days with virtual learning following the pandemic. School leaders have suggested a spike in holidays has contributed to a tight calendar that doesn’t leave much wiggle room for non-instructional days, making it necessary to pivot online during storms or other disruptions.