There can be little doubt that most—if not all—schools east of the Mississippi River have lost required class time, thanks to a spate of winter storms and arctic vortexes determined to keep everyone at home and off the roads and playgrounds. Schools across the country are scrambling to compensate for the lost class time, but how they do it varies from place to place.
Several schools are extending their calendars to late June. In Pennsylvania, Hazleton area public schools now close on June 20. Harford County schools in Maryland plan to make up the time by tacking on extra days in summer, too.
In Ohio, Governor John Kasich asked state lawmakers to increase the number of five “calamity days”—used as flexible closing days for bad weather or other emergencies—to allow schools to meet the state minimum of 175 days. The Ohio House Education Committee approved four extra days for the districts, though the proposal has stalled in debates. (At least students get a reprieve from mandatory state tests for another week!)
Providence Creek Academy, a charter school in Delaware, has taken a different tack: On February 10, their school day was extended for 15 minutes, added to the last class of the day. With 1,342.5 instructional hours required instead of a set number of days, Providence Creek Academy will be able to add an extra 20.8 hours to their schedule, helping them adjust for time lost due to the snow storms and freezing temperatures. Only the last class of the day receives the extra time, however, limiting the effectiveness of this solution.
Other schools are cancelling regularly scheduled days off to accommodate the glut of snow and ice. Officials in Oklahoma are contemplating using days set aside for teacher in-services, federal holidays, and parent-teacher conferences for more instructional time. Some schools in Alexandria, Virginia, have sacrificed their professional workdays in March and April to make up class time for students.
Still other schools are trying a little bit of everything. School Superintendent Jamie Wilson in Denton, Texas, said that he might ask for a waiver from the state rule requiring 180 instructional days per school year, but that he’d consider alternatives first. Students in Denton may have make-up days on Saturdays, and even extended class days in May.
While administrators scramble to adjust the calendar for the second half of the school year, how much do snow days really affect student achievement? The Massachusetts Department of Education asked Harvard professor Joshua Goodman to “crunch some numbers” and determine how badly student achievement was impacted by snow days, as evaluated by the state’s standardized test results. Turns out, snow days don’t affect student performance nearly as much as individual attendance. In other words, planned and coordinated closures have less impact on instruction than sporadic absences by the single student.
Meanwhile, schools experiment with e-learning strategies to keep classes on-track. Ohio school districts have the option of sending curricula to the state for approval of “Blizzard Bag Days,” allowing students to work on projects from home. And as Principal Eric Sheninger reminds us in a blog post, Digital Learning Day isn’t just for show—making modern technology and communication styles a regular part of the classroom can make snow days a hiccup, not a show stopper.
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Business Managers Vol. 8 No. 5 Snow Days 0n Campus
ISM Monthly Update for Risk Managers Vol. 2 No. 5 Winter Hazards
ISM Monthly Update for Division Heads Vol. 11 No. 5 Snow, Snow, Go Away: Winter-Recess Policies
ISM Monthly Update for Business Officers Vol.12 No. 6 Snow Days are Ancient History
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 34 No. 14 The 21st Century School: The School Calendar
