As we approach the end of fall and beginning of winter, the snowflakes begin to thicken and stick to the ground. Although we’ve had some flurries this past month, the atmosphere was not ready, with it being too warm for the snow to make any real impact. However, the temperatures have dropped and snow has fallen, this time finally sticking the landing which can only mean one thing: snow day season is upon us.
Our first snow day of the school year has officially taken place, which is quite early compared to previous school years. Hopefully this will continue throughout the chilly months. As most know, we have five snow days built into our school calendar, which means that we can have up to five snow days without having to attend an extra day of school, not shortening our summer.
However, if we have six or more snow days, we do have to make up that day of school, adding an extra day to our calendar.
According to Londonderry School District Superintendent, Dan Black, having more than five snow days could impact the timeline of important spring events. “It could mess up SEAs and Graduation” if we ended up having to extend the school year by a significant amount of days.
Although this could be quite concerning, having up to five snow days usually never happens. Five snow days may seem like an accurate amount that we would have in a year, but it is actually quite a lot. Lately, we have around two or three snow days, meaning we have to attend the rest of the school year without using up those unused built-in snow days.
There have been multiple instances where it has been predicted for an ample amount of snowfall for Londonderry, yet we still had school. Even when neighboring towns are given the day off, we are at school learning.
Black believes that we should not always follow in the footsteps of other schools because the storm often hits differently with the changing climate.
“Over the last couple of years, our winters keep getting more mild,” Black said. “They keep getting warmer and warmer and warmer. So when you have a storm that’s like 31 degrees, it can change dramatically. So Pelham could have rain, we could have snow, and Concord could have five feet of snow.”
Just because other schools are given the day off and have made that decision the night before, we cannot get sick with “snow day fever”. Do not think that we will obviously have no school when another school does not, because there is a lot of coordination and thinking that goes into making this big decision.
“With the storm we just had, every [school] pretty much had the same [storm],” Black said. “So we try to coordinate with each other. We talk regionally, so all the superintendents in the area kind of text or call each other when storms are coming through.”
Not only does our school district check in with other schools, they talk to many people to see if it is safe for us to be at school, because that is our district’s main concern.
“I have to talk to the people in town who clear all the roads,” Black said. “I have to talk to the people who clear all of our parking lots and sidewalks. We get reports from the weatherman. All we’re trying to do is just kind of make sure we get to and from school safely.”
The school district should not receive hate for not calling a snow day early enough for your standards because a lot of work goes into making sure that we are all safe.
However, when it snows unexpectedly in the morning and there is no time for this planning, school proceeds as expected with no delays or cancellations.
This can be dangerous for young drivers to drive to and from school, especially with all the students rushing in the morning to get to school on time. People driving to work and school buses only add to the mix. Sometimes we are given a delay, but it really should just be a snow day.
With a delay, we still have every class, they are just shortened. Each class is significantly shorter making it hard to complete the curriculum for that day. In many classes, we have a “catch-up” type of class. This is just a day wasted, where we could have just had a snow day saving all students and admin from potential dangers.
One proposal to fix issues regarding heavy snowfall is to declare snow days as early as possible so students are aware. Considering previous years, there has been no common pattern with having five or more snow days, so there is no point in not calling the snow day since we will more than likely not use all of the built-in days. Declaring snow days won’t stop icy, snowy roads, but it will prevent inexperienced drivers from endangering themselves and others.
We should use as many of our snow days as possible. If there is not enough heavy snowfall in our winter months, there should be a new proposal put into effect: sun days. Sun days would be when the average temperature reaches a high of 85 degrees or more and we are given the day off.
I understand that the school district wants us to get as much education as possible to further our learning and understanding; however, when it gets this hot inside the school building, it becomes a nightmare to function and try to get work done.
If we have the extra snow days, why should this not be put into place? What is the point of giving us the built in days off if we never get to use each and every one of them? Let’s take advantage of all our benefits and put them to good use, whether it is outside bundled up in the snow or laying by the pool soaking in the sun.
