Local schools eliminate snow days, replace with remote learning

PENNSYLVANIA — Some local schools got rid of snow days completely and kids will do remote learning instead.

“This is actually the first year where we don’t have snow days built into our traditional calendar,” said Dr. Christopher Stone, of Montour School District.

Snow days are a thing of the past at Montour School District. Since the pandemic, the Superintendent says both teachers and students have become efficient and comfortable with online learning, and this way they won’t have to make up any school days.

“I think it really benefits not only the students and teachers but also the parents. Parents have that understanding that this is the calendar we know we are sticking by the calendar and there’s no confusion in respect to shaving off days during the holiday breaks,” said Dr. Stone.

Mars is doing the same thing. However, Butler Area School District is keeping snow days around.

“A good number of our students just don’t have internet accessibility at home. We do have devices for every student but it’s quite a task to get everyone up and running with some form of internet service so for us, the disruption of one day is easier to make up plus the amount of time we’ve lost with live instruction over the past two years. We feel it’s best to have any many as possible,” said Brian White, the superintendent of Butler Area School District.

Other districts like North Allegheny will continue the snow day tradition. Some parents are happy about that because it’s a sense of normalcy for their kids and something they can look forward to.

“My son is a huge fan of snow days because he goes outside with kids in the neighborhood and sleds or we go skiing or snowboarding or snowtubing and that family time is always treasured,” said Victoria Klaus, a North Allegheny parent.

As for North Hills School District, they are doing the state’s program called ‘Flexible Instructional Days’ which kids complete class work at home during the snow day and it counts as a school day.

Local schools eliminate snow days, replace with remote learning

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