There’s nothing better than waking up to a glistening blanket of snow on the ground, and knowing that you have the whole day to watch movies, relax, play outside, and drink warm hot chocolate. However, the introduction of virtual learning as a result of the pandemic may change the fate of snow days: for better and for worse.

Currently, the NJ Department of Education requires schools to administer at least 180 school days in order to receive state funding. However, njea.org explains that this law provides exceptions for virtual days to count towards this requirement “when the school is closed for three or more consecutive days due to a declared state emergency, declared public health emergency, or when the appropriate health agency has directed a closure for public health reasons.”

What this means in terms of snow days is that if school is closed for three or more consecutive days due to a weather-related state of emergency, schools can administer virtual learning instead of a school closure.
Due to the pandemic, these virtual days are practically second nature, and these days would count towards the 180-day requirement.

Currently, BHS has three snow days built into our school calendar. After these three days have been utilized, days are taken away from school breaks such as spring break, memorial day weekend, etc. Days also may be added on to the end of the school year.

Surveyed students made it evident that they wish to still have traditional snow days.77.4% of students answered that when inclement weather is present, they would rather have a legitimate snow day than a virtual day. Aoife Feherty says that “snow days were a big part of [her] childhood and should continue to be implemented in future generations.” Bryce Lukacsko conveys that “students should be able to take the day off and de-stress” and Gabriel Scotton expresses that “snow days are meant to be fun breaks from school in which [students] could relax and have fun with friends.”

Students also made it clear that they hope this school year can be as close to normal as possible. Essentially, students wish to return to pre-pandemic learning. Thus, incorporating traditional snow days would support this normalcy.

Snow days are both exciting and relaxing. But, after using our three built-in snow days, 73.5% of students agreed that virtual days could be of good use. This would prevent the disappointment of coming back from break a day early, or staying in school at the end of the year for an extra day.

Aidan Kinsey said, “When the year is near over, [he is] excited to head home, so [he] would rather have an end of the year conforming to the schedule as opposed to a longer time.” Alex Vaccarro considered that “people plan their spring break vacations way before they actually go on them. They, for the most part, anticipate the full break as their time limit.”

Ultimately, a compromise can be administered in this scenario. After districts have utilized three built-in snow days, they should be able to administer virtual days. These virtual days should be counted towards the 180-day requirement regardless of if the prerequisite three consecutive days of school closure have been met.

This would allow the luxury and nostalgia of a traditional snow day without affecting students’ much needed breaks.