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The New York Knicks’ victory this weekend over the San Antonio Spurs, cementing their first NBA championship since 1973, brought joy to fans across the five boroughs.
Shortly after their win, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the city will host a ticker-tape parade to honor the team. It will start at 10 a.m. at Battery Park and travel north along Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes before concluding at City Hall for a ceremony where the mayor will give the team the keys to the city.
The only problem: Some parents are mad that the parade is being held on the same day as science Regents exams. The biology and living environment exams are being administered in the morning. The “Earth and Space Sciences” and “Physical Setting/ Earth Science” exams are being administered in the afternoon.
One mom has already started a petition asking city and state officials, as well as the team’s owner, to move the day of the parade. (High school students who aren’t taking Regents exams that day don’t attend school.) And one student started a petition to cancel school altogether on Thursday.
“This scheduling conflict creates a profound issue of equity and fairness,” Michelle Weintraub, a mom of an eighth grader scheduled to take a Regents exam that day, wrote in her petition. “The students most affected are those who have worked tirelessly all year to pass these exams. Depriving them of the chance to celebrate their city’s historic milestone—while adults and non-testing students freely attend—is inherently inequitable.”
Sebastian Crosa, the student who started a petition, played up the feelings of unity the Knicks have brought to the city — and suggested the parade could be a teachable moment.
“The parade is an educational experience in itself, rich with lessons about sportsmanship, history, and the power of dreams coming true,” Cosa wrote in his petition. “By supporting this request, we will allow the next generation of Knicks fans to experience this extraordinary moment, creating lifelong memories and sparking inspiration for future accomplishments in their own lives.”
As mayor, Mamdani has embraced a sense of fun for the city’s school kids, “canceling” bed time so they could watch the Knicks in the championship games. And of course, many kids were grateful to him for bringing back traditional snow days. But to do that, he had to get a waiver from the state for the day off since students already were at the minimum required instructional days.
Getting a waiver again would likely be a tall order.
What do you think about the scheduling conflict? Chalkbeat is asking for your perspective: [email protected].
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at[email protected].
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