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Schools are debating, remote learning or snow day and many are choosing to give their students and staff the chance to enjoy a good old fashion snow day. Bishop Ludden High School principal, Michael McAuliff said students need an emotional, mental, and academic break from school occasionally and snow days are the time to do that.

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The availability of virtual learning means schools don't necessarily need to shut down for the weather. But the loss of snow days is the loss of a source of joy for kids.

Snow days are uniquely beloved by kids in wintry climates. After a night of hoping, children earn a blissful surprise: a morning spent sleeping in and a day of playing outside. As Cindy Burau, a fourth-grade teacher in Lake Tahoe, California, put it: Snow days are "like gifts from the heavens that we all need: a sigh, a moment." The pandemic has threatened this tradition. For students who attend school remotely every day, bad weather no longer affects their ability to attend class. And schools that have returned to in-person teaching or hybrid models likely still have remote-learning setups that they can turn to. With virtual school available as an alternative to canceling class, some schools have seen fit to put an end to the snow day as generations of children have known it.

On the one hand, students are falling months behind after losing classroom time because of COVID-19. (This is more likely to be the case for students of color and students living in low-income communities.) Some educators argue that students can't afford to miss more school this year-even when it snows. On the other hand, kids love snow days, and many parents welcome even a short break from the daily grind of helping with Zoom classes. The products of a practical need to keep students at home during dangerous travel conditions, snow days' primary purpose has become bringing children joy. The pandemic has taken so much away from kids, snow-day advocates say. Do we have to take this away too?
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But snow days were endangered even before COVID-19 hit. Over the past five years or so, some districts in Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and other states have opted for students to work remotely when the weather has made travel dangerous. The coronavirus has accelerated this trend. Because of the pandemic, about 40 percent of school districts have replaced traditional snow days with remote-learning days, while only 20 percent have preserved the days off, according to a November survey from Education Week. (The remainder of those surveyed were either undecided or located in climates where school isn't likely to be canceled for weather.)

Whether these schools are making a temporary decision for the duration of the pandemic or a more permanent change is still unclear. In the coming years, although climate change will likely affect U.S. snowfall patterns, schools in many regions will still need to deal with winter weather. And during true emergencies, such as the recent winter storm and resulting infrastructure disaster in Texas, even remote school will have to be canceled. But in less extreme cases, adjustments made for the pandemic have given schools more choices.

Cheryl Logan, the superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, had been quietly considering the possibility of holding classes remotely during snow days for several years. The pandemic sped up her plans: Her teachers grew accustomed to teaching virtually, and the school district provided her students with iPads that have mobile connections. Suddenly she had solutions for all the logistical hurdles that had held her back. In November, Logan announced that traditional snow days are gone forever in her district. Still, she was quick to correct us when we asked about the decision to permanently cancel them: "We don't like to use the word cancel. We like to use repurpose." She has chosen a hybrid model, in which students will sign on for a few hours in the morning and take the afternoon off. She's mindful of children's need to play and the nostalgia factor associated with snow days. "It makes complete sense that folks are yearning for anything that feels more like what we have been accustomed to," she told us. But as an educator, she wants to ensure that inclement weather doesn't lead to students falling too far behind in school.
Read: Why did we ever send sick kids to school?
For Jen Homann, a software engineer and parent to a third grader in Omaha, the decision has been slightly disappointing. Although her son is mostly back to in-person school, he requires help on remote snow days-because her husband has to go into the office, and she works from home, that burden falls largely on her. In districts such as hers that permanently replace snow days with online learning, parents will have to not only juggle their jobs and the logistics of child care when the weather keeps kids home, but also deal with remote school even after the pandemic ends.

This would add an extra burden to days that were already logistically complicated for many working parents. For example, Jenn Ragan, a mom in Lake Tahoe, owns a snow-removal business, so she's always been busiest when it snows. "There's more that goes into a snow day than just kids playing. Teachers, parents, everyone-they're shoveling or blowing their driveways," she told us.

But not all families are sad to lose traditional snow days. Melissa Siig, a mom of three kids in Lake Tahoe, told us that, during the pandemic, a snow day is "not as exciting and special as it used to be. It was almost like Christmas." Many students have now spent almost a full year mostly stuck inside, and a snow day-once an excuse to stay home and relax-is not very different from a typical pandemic day. Siig's daughter, Kaya, 14, said that her school sometimes adds days to the end of the year to compensate for snow days, so doing away with them could mean an earlier summer vacation.

Their district, which has partially returned to the classroom in a hybrid model, is responding to bad weather with both distance-learning days and traditional snow days, depending on how bad that weather is. During a big storm in January, Carmen Diaz Ghysels, the superintendent of the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, called three snow days: the first two as distance learning, and the last a traditional one to accommodate teachers who had lost internet access. Ghysels is unsure whether the district will continue to have remote-learning "snow days" post-pandemic, since the state's board of education has not announced whether distance learning is approved for the next school year. She's also aware that many community members feel strongly about preserving the days off, and wants to hear from them before making a decision.

Other superintendents, such as Bondy Shay Gibson of Jefferson County Schools in West Virginia, are also attuned to their community's feelings toward snow days. In December, Gibson canceled classes so that students could enjoy the first snow of the school year and take a break. In the future, however, Gibson told us, students may be asked to attend classes remotely on snowy days. "You have to have some balance," she said. "We have huge expectations of kids these days, and every once in a while, you've just got to put grace before grades and let them enjoy being a kid, because it goes by pretty fast."
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For many, including Gibson, saving a beloved tradition has turned out to be good press. On social media, thousands of people shared the letter Gibson wrote announcing the December day off, which declared that in a difficult year, " this is one thing our kids won't lose." A superintendent in Indiana jokingly assigned students snowball fights as homework for their day off. The Mahwah school district in New Jersey announced that it would keep snow days to " maintain the hope of children." Campbell's Soup made the effort corporate with a #SavetheSnowDay campaign. The company, which has partnered with Mahwah, aims to "preserve and protect our most magical of winter birthrights," and, of course, peddle canned goods at the same time.

Before its campaign to save snow days, Mahwah had seriously considered canceling them, according to Lisa Rizzo, the district's director of special services. But ultimately, those in favor of preserving them won out. Since then, the fervor for snow days (powered by social-media support) has grown, and Mahwah administrators have churned out impassioned pro-snow day videos and emails. "We will find a way to get to the math, get to the reading," Dennis Fare, the assistant superintendent told us. Rizzo added, "Children have lost so many rites of passage. The first-day-of-school photograph at the bus stop was gone. Birthday parties are reduced to signs on your front lawn and friends driving by, honking horns. This is one place where we can maintain the integrity of childhood."

Snow days are, of course, only a couple of days a year. But they represent so much more. Anticipating snow days is part of the fun, as children try to summon them with superstitions such as flushing ice cubes down the toilet, wearing their pajamas inside out, and sleeping with spoons under their pillows. They celebrate them by spending time outside, away from screens. Burau, the fourth-grade teacher, told us that snow days bring the whole community together: Kids go sledding, high schoolers dig cars out for extra cash, and parents take time to play in the snow too. If nothing else, snow days offer children a temporary break from the modern school culture of constant homework. During a year of loss, saving the snow day has come to represent protecting children from the harms of the pandemic-Zoom fatigue, grief, and monotony-and preserving moments of joy.

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The availability of virtual learning means schools don't necessarily need to shut down for the weather. But the loss of snow days is the loss of a source of joy for kids. Snow days are uniquely beloved by kids in wintry climates.

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It's that time of the year when snow days roll around. However, the developments in remote learning over the pandemic pose the question: are snow days necessary anymore? With virtual learning, students no longer need to worry about snow days cutting into their summer break.

Virtual learning became a lifeline during the outbreak of COVID-19. Zoom, Google Classroom, and Canvas saved the schools during an uncertain time. These tools allowed students to access their work and teachers to continue instructional activity spontaneously. So why would we turn our backs on it now?

Every year we are only permitted three days off by MCPS. This way, schools can secure the necessary 180 days of instruction. Previously, snow days accommodated students who couldn't get to school. But now we have a way around it. Virtual snow days will secure the longest possible summer while making it easier for students to continue learning.

The main problem with snow days is it takes away time from summer break and adds time to the school year. Even when we get a day off, the time still adds back on. So it may seem like we are getting time off, but in reality, we are in school for the same amount of time.

All states can decide how long students need to be in school. Maryland has a total of 180 days per year, only allowing for three added days off before summer gets shorter. While three days sounds nice, that time is easily taken up. Big storms continue to come, and they have no choice but to take away from summer and sometimes spring break. During the 2018-2019 school year, MCPS went over their snow day count and had to take from both summer and spring break.

In 2018 an article titled "Montgomery County is Out Of Snow Days - Is Your County" Stephanie Ramirez said, "An MCPS Spokesperson tells WUSA 9 if they close for snow on Wednesday, the next make-up day will be June 5th. They'll work their way back into the calendar and even look at their Spring Break if need be."

With all the days off, teachers and students often find it difficult to focus when returning to school. The time off throws students out of their schedules and routines. The change in the school days also makes lesson planning more difficult for teachers.

Everyone knows the struggle of returning from a snow day. You lose track of what is happening in classes and are left scrambling to catch up. Virtual snow days easily avoid this problem. All the learning you would miss throughout the year would be avoided and you would not have to worry about not being prepared.

According to CNN, "if students are snowed out of school, they won't learn as much."

Everyone knows snow days are a great time to catch up on sleep and have fun in the snow. Every student needs a break sometimes, but our winter is already full of brakes

While snow days are good breaks, we have tons of them already during the winter. After Thanksgiving break, there are only 18 days until winter break. Then there are only ten days of school until we have off for Martin Luthar King Jr day. Finally, you only have to wait four days until another day off for the end of the quarter professional day.

With all these days of no school during the winter, it is already hard to stay focused. Adding snow days will make it even harder for students to stay engaged and keep grades up.

Overall, snow days are detrimental to students and preventable with virtual days. It will give students longer summers, more breaks, and a better chance of doing well in school.

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It's that time of the year when snow days roll around. However, the developments in remote learning over the pandemic pose the question: are snow days necessary anymore? With virtual learning, students no longer need to worry about snow days cutting into their summer break. Virtual learning became a lifeline during the outbreak of COVID-19.

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NYC Schools Will Switch To Remote Learning For Snow Days, Election Day

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Students and teachers learned all about virtual classrooms in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation. And a big lesson learned during that time was that snow days weren't always necessary when your entire educational process is conducted over a computer.

As more schools opened up to in-person learning over the last several months, the convenience of remote learning led some districts to question if the unscheduled day off for snow would survive.

For public schools in New York City, the nation's largest district, the snow day is no more. The city's Department of Education made the announcement in the release of its 2021-22 school year calendar.

"On 'Snow days' or days when school buildings are closed due to an emergency, all students and families should plan on participating in remote learning," the city's school district website stated.
'Just be kids by playing in the snow':Unscheduled days off have benefits: Even virtual schoolchildren need the lessons of snow days Snow days canceled because of COVID-19 online school? Not in these school districts
The policy appears to be a continuation of the district's shift last year when in September it announced it wouldn't have snow days. If school buildings couldn't open, students would learn remotely.

New York isn't alone. Education Week, a news organization covering K-12 education, surveyed principals and district leaders in November and found nationally that 39% converted snow days to remote learning days and 32% were considering it.
USA TODAY reporter Elinor Aspegren contributed to this story.
But the snow day isn't dead for everyone, as some districts' leaders defended the unexpected days off as a time-honored tradition that all students should enjoy.

"Snow days are chances for on-site learners and virtual learners to just be kids by playing in the snow, baking cookies, reading books and watching a good movie," New Jersey's Mahwah Township Public Schools told parents in an email in October. "These are times for memory-making, and we believe these types of opportunities should remain intact."

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Snow days canceled at New York City public schools

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Students and teachers learned all about virtual classrooms in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation. And a big lesson learned during that time was that snow days weren't always necessary when your entire educational process is conducted over a computer.

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So long, snow days: NYC schools calendar adds holidays, axes snow days

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A New York City official said snow days are a thing of the past - all thanks to remote learning.

Speaking with FOX affiliate WNYW on Tuesday, New York City's Department of Education chancellor, David C. Banks, said that New York City public school students should expect to attend class through virtual learning when snow and other storms hit the area.

"So, sorry kids - no more snow days, but it's going to be good for you!" he told the outlet.

Before the wide adoption of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, students would traditionally get the day - or days - off from school.

According to the Washington Post, snow days have not been used since the start of the pandemic in 2020. New York requires students to attend school 180 days out of the year.

"With the new technology that we have - that's one of the good things that came out of COVID - if a snow day comes around, we want to make sure that our kids continue to learn," Banks told WNYW.

After Banks' interview, social media users were loud in their disapproval of the snow day news.

"NYC cancelling snow days is a sin," one user wrote.

Added another: "This is reminding me of a teacher in my high school who gave a quiz you couldn't make up if you missed it on the day the Giants had a parade or something. Screw them all. Don't attend class on snow days."

RELATED VIDEO: Dog Reunites With Her Owner After She Got Lost In The Snow For A Week

The Post noted that some major places, such as Washington D.C. and Virginia's Fairfax County, have kept traditional snow days as an option so far.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, officials said they would leave open the option of closing schools "completely" in emergency situations, though they would turn to remote-learning for bad weather events.

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New York City Schools Will No Longer Have Snow Days: 'Sorry Kids,' Official Says

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A New York City official said snow days are a thing of the past - all thanks to remote learning. Speaking with FOX affiliate WNYW on Tuesday, New York City's Department of Education chancellor, David C. Banks, said that New York City public school students should expect to attend class through virtual learning when snow and other storms hit the area.

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Virtual school after a snowstorm is yet another kind of techno-solutionist slush that should be plowed away.

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Schools work to keep snow day, remote class balance

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After New York City Public schools made the decision earlier this month to no longer have snow days - and instead decided to opt for virtual learning - parents, teachers and students on Long Island wondered whether they faced the same fate.

Chancellor David Banks of the New York City Department of Education told anchors on Fox 5's "Good Day New York" on Sept. 6 that city schools no longer have snow days built into their calendars.

"With the new technology that we have, it's one of the good things that came out of Covid," Banks said. "We want to make sure our kids are continuing to learn, so, sorry kids, no more snow days, but it's going to be good for you."

Dominick Palma, the superintendent of schools in the Merrick Union Free School District and president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, said the decision to have emergency days is up to each school district.

"Each district will consider if having snow days versus virtual days is in that district's interest," he said.

In a statement for the Herald, Kenneth Card, superintendent of the East Meadow School District, wrote that the district would maintain its snow days.

"Our Board has always maintained that we will use traditional snow days first," Card wrote. "Once we have exhausted available snow days, we will then pivot to remote to ensure we are able to meet the 180 day requirement."

Parents in East Meadow were quick to say that virtual days are not what they want for their children.

Melissa Ann VanAlstine-Parris, an East Meadow mother of two, wrote to the Herald that as a college professor, with a husband who is a high school teacher, she's glad that East Meadow - and the schools at which both of them work - are keeping snow days.

"I hope no child ever has to do a school day remote again," she wrote. "It is not good for them to stare at a screen all day (even if there are breaks) and they don't learn the same."

VanAlstine-Parris added that sometimes on snow days, or emergency days - as in cases of hurricanes - there could be extensive power outages throughout communities.

"This becomes an equity issue if kids can't get online because they don't have power," she wrote. "There is also an equity issue due to internet access. Homes with multiple children/adults needing to be online at the same time can cause issues, with internets slowing down.

"A good snow storm is not that often here, so they are kind of special. Let's keep them special and let the kids go out and play."

Other parents agreed, citing a lack of affordable and convenient child care, safety, and limited learning through virtual education, as reasons to keep children home during snowy days.

"Snow days are a rite of passage. Kids should get them just like we did," EMSD parent Nick Ave wrote. "Let's say the district decides remote days instead of snow days. What happens if your wifi goes down? Will the kids get marked absent? Last year, my wifi did go down during a snow storm. If my kids were marked absent because of that, I would raise hell. Weather is unpredictable and things happen."

Some parents see a plus side to having virtual learning days.

Kim Rummel Morovich, wrote she prefers snow days since they're already built into the EMSD calendar, but as a teacher, she prefers going remote. "Much safer for the kids than bussing them all long distances on icy roads, and the staff," she wrote, adding in that at the school she works at, they build in "contingency days" around Easter break and Memorial Day."So, if we go remote, instead of using snow days, we have more days off at Easter and Memorial Day."

East Meadow parent Denyse Kofod wrote that virtual days should only be reserved for older students, if at all.

"Kids should get snow days," she wrote. "It's great to have the technology, but there's very limited learning that happens virtually. Maybe at the college level this makes sense, but K-12, I don't think so."

Overwhelmingly, the consensus of parents want snow days for their kids.

"Yes to snow days," EMSD parent Andrea Jimenez wrote. "Childhood is a small period of time and we need to let kids be kids enjoy playing in the snow, come in for hot cocoa, watch movies and play."

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Schools decide: snow days, or virtual learning?

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After New York City Public schools made the decision earlier this month to no longer have snow days - and instead decided to opt for virtual learning - parents, teachers and students on Long Island wondered whether they faced the same fate.

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New York City Cancels Snow Days For The School Year

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Sorry, kids, turning your PJs inside out won't help: New York City is canceling snow days again.

"There are technically no more snow days," Schools Chancellor David Banks said Tuesday on Fox 5′s "Good Day New York."

"With the new technology that we have - that's one of the good things that came out of Covid - if a snow day comes around, we want to make sure that our kids continue to learn," Banks added. "So, sorry kids! No more snow days, but it's gonna be good for you!"

According to the New York Post, snow days were previously axed in NYC when the Covid pandemic began in 2020 as all schools shifted to virtual learning. The 2021-2022 school year also said snow days would still utilize "remote learning," and this year will do the same.

Will snow days be canceled permanently? An Education Department spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that they "consider and reassess policies" each year.

Other school districts have varying policies after New York state gave permission to switch to remote learning rather than use a snow day during bad weather in 2020 and last year. Liverpool Superintendent Mark Potter said last year Liverpool schools would continue to use traditional snow days but remote learning would be an option if the district used too many days off. Syracuse City Schools used remote learning during the 2020-2021 winter, but switched back to traditional snow days last winter.
Farmers Almanac predicts snowy winter in Upstate NY, with 'significant shivers'

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New York City cancels snow days, will instead have remote learning

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Sorry, kids, turning your PJs inside out won't help: New York City is canceling snow days again. "There are technically no more snow days," Schools Chancellor David Banks said Tuesday on Fox 5′s "Good Day New York."