An Alexandria City School Board member has proposed starting discussions to bring back traditional snow days, after school buildings were closed for more than a week in the aftermath of last month’s winter storm.
Board member Ryan Reyna called for a discussion on potentially building snow days back into the calendar and examining flexibility of winter break start and end dates for the 2028-2029 calendar during the School Board’s Feb. 5 meeting.
He recommended extending the school year beyond state-required 180 days, through either potential built-in snow days, make-up days or flexible winter break options.
The current ACPS calendar does not build snow days into the school year. According to ACPS’ inclement weather policy, families should expect virtual synchronous learning days during school closures.
Reyna noted that a December presentation to the board suggested future calendars incorporate snow days due to more unpredictable winter weather.
“At the end of the day, I just would like us and our division to really rely on the robust instructional hours that we have planned and trust in the expertise of our staff to make up the ground when it’s safe to return,” Reyna said. “Recognizing that there are going to be times that we have to do virtual learning because of particular emergencies, but if we can, to be able to add those snow days in future years.”
ACPS had full closures on Jan. 26 and 27 and operated with virtual learning from Jan. 28 through Feb. 2 before returning with two-hour delays on Feb. 3 and 4 last week. One of the traditional snow days — Jan. 26 — was already set aside as a day off for students, due to a teacher workday.
Reyna said the division can learn from the Covid-19 virtual learning era that resulted in some learning loss. He acknowledged concerns from working families who had to monitor students during the extended winter storm closure.
“I’ve heard directly from a number of families about the challenges that they faced in supporting their younger students conduct that virtual learning,” Reyna said. “We’ve heard certainly from students within my own household and others, about how difficult it is to stay engaged on a screen for multiple hours at a time and how that can be really draining to them and challenging for their peers.”
ACPS and other K-12 school divisions must meet state requirements on providing 180 school days, or the equivalent of 990 instructional hours per school year.
School Board Chair Michelle Rief indicated the item could be scheduled for a future School Board agenda.
