Roughly 70% of Staten Island public school students were absent on Tuesday, one day after one of the largest snowstorms in New York City history.
According to the city Department of Education data, Staten Island recorded a 69.8% absentee rate. That figure was nearly double the citywide average of 36.8% for the same day.
Some neighborhoods in Staten Island saw close to 30 inches of snowfall, making it the hardest-hit borough during the storm.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani chose to reopen schools rather than switch to remote learning following the blizzard.
Critics in the borough said the decision failed to account for local conditions, including the suspension of Staten Island’s sole rail line and difficulties clearing narrow and hilly residential roads.
Councilman Frank Morano, a Republican representing Staten Island, sharply criticized the move.
“This is going to go down… as one of the worst decisions in history,” Morano said.
Morano cited multiple operational challenges across the borough.
Snow banks reportedly blocked crosswalks, bus stops and roadways. Several schools recorded absentee rates between 80 and 85%.
At David Marquis School of the Arts in Great Kills, officials reportedly had difficulty unloading students in wheelchairs due to unplowed snow.
At Myra S. Barnes Intermediate School 24, also in Great Kills, students were temporarily moved to the cafeteria after a power outage lasted roughly two hours.
Borough President Vito Fossella also criticized the city’s approach, saying the decision reflected a “one-size-fits-all” policy, per the New York Post.
“We don’t have the luxury of jumping on the subway,” Fossella said, referencing Staten Island’s limited public transit options.
Morano said he is drafting legislation that would provide boroughs with more autonomy in decisions such as school closures during severe weather.
He also indicated he would seek review of the proposal by a City Charter Revision Commission appointed under former Mayor Eric Adams.
Attendance data from other boroughs showed lower absentee rates.
Manhattan recorded a 29.8% student absentee rate. Queens reported 34.2%. Brooklyn recorded 35.1%. The Bronx reported 36.4%.
Under normal circumstances, approximately 11% of the city’s nearly 900,000 public school students are absent on a typical school day.
Teacher attendance was also affected.
Mayor Mamdani said roughly 12,000 of the city’s 78,300 teachers — approximately 15 percent — called out, prompting the city to recruit about 5,000 substitute teachers.
The Department of Education declined to provide district-level breakdowns or specific attendance figures for teachers.
The storm’s impact and the city’s response have intensified debate over whether borough-specific conditions should factor into school closure decisions during major weather events.
