Why some NY schools are closed for the solar eclipse
With snow days phased out by remote learning, it takes nothing less than a rare total solar eclipse to get a day off from school for some students.
Many school districts in upstate New York are canceling class on Monday or dismissing students early as traffic is expected to snarl the region in and around the zone of totality, which stretches from Buffalo and Rochester to the Adirondack Mountains.
New York City schools, however, are staying open — despite concerns from some parents.
Some districts are using unused snow days, while others are extending spring breaks.
Another largely unspoken factor is that schools want to avoid the liability of having students incur vision damage by staring at the astronomical event without protective eyewear on school property, according to a former state educator.
The Buffalo City School District, the state’s third largest, is canceling classes on Monday, leaving students and teachers the opportunity to enjoy the eclipse on their own time.
The City of Light will be totally blacked out at 3:18 p.m., when students would normally be catching buses home.
Most suburban districts in the surrounding area will also be closed, or send students home early, according to WGRZ.
Rochester, the state’s fourth largest district, will also give students and staff the day off, extending a week-long spring break by one day.
Everything to know about the 2024 solar eclipse
- The solar eclipse will take place Monday, April 8, blocking the sun for over 180 million people in its path.
- The eclipse will expand from Mexico’s Pacific Coast across North America, hitting 15 US states and pulling itself all the way to the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
- New Yorkers will experience the solar eclipse just after 2 p.m. Monday.
- A huge explosion on the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, is anticipated, according to experts. This happens when massive particles from the sun are hurled out into space, explains Ryan French of the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado.
- To avoid serious injury to the eyes, it is necessary to view the event through proper eyewear like eclipse glasses, or a handheld solar viewer, during the partial eclipse phase before and after totality.
- The next total solar eclipse will take place on Aug. 12, 2026, and totality will be visible to those in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small slice of Portugal.
Syracuse education officials also followed suit, noting the risk of students staring at the sun when the school board passed a resolution to give students the day off back in February, WSTM reported.
“Given the timing of the event and the potential safety hazards it could pose to students and staff, the District is proposing an update to the calendar,” the district said according to the outlet.
“The biggest safety hazard is just really making sure that you’re not staring at the sun when that eclipse is happening,” Amanda Hull, a spokesperson for the district, told WSTM.
“It can really do permanent damage to your eyes, and we don’t want that to happen to any of our students or our staff.”
Albany schools were giving kids a half-day Monday — even though the state capital is about a two-hour drive from the zone of totality.
In the rural Adirondack region, most schools were also adjusting their schedules so that classroom instruction or after-school activities did not overlap with the show in the sky.
Johnsburg Central Schools are dismissing students at 12:30 p.m. “due to the solar eclipse later in the afternoon,” and supplying students with free protective glasses on their way out of class.
In Tupper Lake and Lake Placid, the event falls in the middle of a two-week spring break for students and teachers.
State troopers in the region had advised residents to prepare for traffic jams of up to 12 hours and stock up on fuel and charge their electric cars as tourists flock to the region, which is connected by a spotty patchwork of single-lane rural highways.
“I’ve got to be honest with you. I’m scared as hell,” said Tupper Lake Supervisor Rick Datolla of the influx, according to Adirondack Explorer.
The eclipse’s zone of totality will pass through 29 of New York’s 62 counties, but the event will also be partially visible downstate.
New York City will enjoy 91% of totality on Monday afternoon, but classes were not set to be interrupted.
One teacher in the country’s largest district told The Post last week that there had been no chatter of viewing events or special plans from administrators.
The state’s Department of Education had “encouraged [districts] to review their school calendars sooner rather than later to avoid potential conflicts” while noting the eclipse “presents a unique educational opportunity for students.”
“The epicenter that the world will be watching will be in the great state of New York,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul at a recent press briefing.
“This is New York’s chance to be in the sun and the limelight.”
