School board trustees defend snow days

‘I kinda don’t care that we have to make up a day and I don’t care that the attendance is kind of low. We’ve been doing it like this for a really long time and it’s fine and snow days are awesome.’

On the rare occasions when Wyoming schools close due to inclement weather, school districts are required to make up for that lost learning — usually by tacking an extra day onto the end of the school year.

A proposal currently in front of the Albany County School Board would let local schools go virtual for the day — eliminating the need for an extra day in June.

But that would spell the end of snow days for Albany County youth — a suggestion some school board members found intolerable.

The initial pushback came from Trustee Emily Siegel Stanton during the proposal’s first reading Wednesday.

“This is philosophical — I realize the conversation we’re having here is practical — but what is happening to childhood?” she said. “Remember snow days used to be this surprise and a break from the routine and our stress. And (with) all the research out about unstructured time for kids and taking the pressure off of kids, I cannot imagine asking a kid, on a snow day, instead of making cookies or playing with their friends or sledding, to sit in front of a computer.”

Superintendent John Goldhardt said he understood that viewpoint, but argued make-up days are not an ideal solution either.

“Whenever we have a snow day, we have to make it up, by state law,” he said. “So that means a spring break day or another holiday becomes a school day. And attendance on those days isn’t real great and it just becomes a lot more plausible to take a route where you can use a virtual day instead of a make-up day.”

But Trustee Nate Martin agreed with Siegel Stanton that snow days are important for children and underappreciated as a concept.

“I just kinda don’t care that we have to make up a day and I don’t care that the attendance is kind of low,” Martin said. “We’ve been doing it like this for a really long time and it’s fine and snow days are awesome.”

Trustee Alex Krassin, who works as a mental health therapist, said she agreed with her fellow trustees about the importance of unstructured time. She added that requiring teachers and students to go virtual on short notice would cause complications. The district provides wifi hotspots for families without internet access, and takes other efforts to make virtual education possible, but she said it can’t guarantee successful outcomes for all students.

“There are a lot of people who are going to fall through the cracks on that one,” Krassin said.

If teachers do get advance notice about a weather or emergency-related school closure, Goldhardt said they can prepare “learning bags,” with assignments or material children can take home to work on in their own time.

“There is flexibility there, and creativity,” he said.

Trustee Carrie Murthy said surprise virtual days are also potentially difficult for parents.

“I work from home; if I’m going to facilitate my kids’ learning that day, I’m taking the day off work,” she said. “If they have a snow day, great, go play in the backyard — I can still work.”

But overall, Goldhardt said he is hesitant to ever call for any kind of snow day or virtual day. For many children, Goldhardt said school is the safest place for them.

“That’s what always goes through my mind — if there’s kids who aren’t going to get breakfast or lunch, who might be in an empty house that doesn’t have a lot of heat,” he said. “Or are they going to come to school where I know they’re safe? So I’m pretty conservative when it comes to calling those types of days.”

Snow days are rare in Albany County; the district hasn’t called for a single snow day in two years. But the policy in question actually refers to a wider range of emergencies, including “fires, rockslides, mudslides, heavy snow accumulation, flood, tornado, or other inclement weather or other situations such as utility problems (i.e., gas leak), road closures, health crisis (i.e., pandemic or outbreak).”

The policy passed its first reading on a 6-2 vote, with Martin and Krassin voting against. (Trustee Beth Bear was absent.)

The policy must survive three readings to pass. The Albany County School Board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8.