CCSD Buzz...
Snow Days or Remote Days?
Dear CCSD Community,
Each year in the fall, we practice the countywide 15-minute early release drill. The premise of this drill is to allow families the opportunity to review their family contingency plans in the event of an early release from school due to weather or any other unexpected event that may occur. With the buzz of snow in the air, and as we embark on the winter weather season, we ask that you remind your child(ren) of your family plan.
In planning the calendar each year, we have to account for 180 days of instruction. We then build in "Emergency Closing Days." These days are commonly called "Snow Days." In actuality, they are for snow, but also need to be preserved so that in the event of weather or other events during the non-winter seasons, we would have a bank of closure days to use. If we go over our Emergency Closing Day allotment, then days must be taken from vacations on the calendar as we are mandated to be in session for 180 days.
This year we have moved our teaching and learning beyond what anyone would have imagined, and in doing so, a new world of remote learning is taking place within the CCSD and world-wide. Does this mean that "Snow Days" go away? No, not necessarily.
The CCSD will be looking at each snow event on a case by case basis to determine whether we would need to move to remote learning or if we would implement a full snow closure. Here are three possible scenarios that could impact those decisions:
· In the CCSD we understand that our families are widespread and that we also lose power quite often during a storm. If students are working remotely and do not have power, they cannot complete their assignments as well as attend their live (virtual) classes. A widespread power outage due to a storm is the type of situation that would not allow us to switch to a remote learning experience.
· If we have a snow event that would cause us to close for a few days, we may look to implement a remote learning situation toward the end of those days.
· If we have a very bad winter weather season and were placed in a situation where we needed to preserve the Emergency Closing Days, we would look to move to remote learning environment instead of a snow closure. Why? As a reminder, each remote learning day counts as an instructional day toward the 180 total, and therefore in this scenario, we would not need to pull days from vacations planned later in the school year.
Certainly, there are many factors involved in closing schools, and each will be taken into account carefully. The above are just three quick scenarios to help in explaining why we would or why we would not use remote learning days in place of a traditional snow day. Our plan is to continue to implement traditional "Snow Days," while also keeping the above possibilities in mind.
The upcoming storm may have quite an impact on our region. Please keep this in mind for your planning, and also take time to check on any loved ones and neighbors who may need assistance.
Be well and be safe!