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While some school districts use remote learning days when wintry weather strikes, others are reverting to – or sticking with – snow days.

The Carter County School System announced this week that the county will make up missed snow days during spring break. It has been hard on the county school system this year – first the flood, which came on September 27. And, much of January has been cold and snowy, forcing students to take a snow break.

School districts are mandated by the state to educate students for 180 days per year in order to receive funding. What constitutes a full school day can be debated at a different time. All school districts build in a buffer of a few days for weather-related emergencies. 

When school officials make the call to cancel school, it is announced after consulting with neighboring districts, local highway departments, local police departments and the bus garage, because extremely cold temperatures have an impact on how well a bus engine operates. After that, the call is made and everyone hopes for the best.

And any decision made in the name of keeping students and staff safe is a good one to make.

Each time this year that school has been called off, activities have been canceled or dismissal times have been early, local officials have been spot on.

Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, and even later if a snow day was announced, it was pure elation, and there were times we’d get entire stretches of days off to play in our sudden winter wonderland.

Of course, back then we didn’t have access to the internet like we do now. We wouldn’t be in class from the comfort of home. And, there are some cities today, with the proliferation of virtual learning, kids don’t get to enjoy the magic of an unexpected snow day. It makes you wonder if true snow days are an endangered species?

Earlier this month, nearly 1 million students in New York City’s public school system learned that their school would remain open, despite the threat of a predicted half-foot of snowfall (in the end, estimates ended up being a bit high, with John F. Kennedy International Airport reporting just a bit over four inches.of accumulation). Classes would be held virtually, they were told – even though there was a network outage that prevented smooth proceedings. There was plenty of pushback, even including some reports of teachers telling parents to ignore the edict from New York City’s mayor.

But the point remained: Access to virtual learning was robbing kids of one of the premier highlights of youth (at least in those geographical sweet spots like New York and other states in the Northeast, where snow falls sometimes in the winter.)

Snow days offer a different kind of learning – an important kind of learning. They are a break from the regular grind of school-based learning.

We can liken the typical snow day of the past to something like an extended recess, highlighting how during that less structured playtime, kids continue to learn. Almost everything about playing in the snow offers some sort of quantifiable lesson about the world. After all, anyone who’s ever played in the stuff knows exactly what kind of snow you’re dealing with, such as dry wet snow. Will it make good snow balls? It’s also a time to learn about snow, icicles, etc. Almost everything about playing in the snow offers some sort of quantifiable lesson about the world.

Also, when there is a snow day, no one is going to get left behind on account of the weather.

All of us used to be kids and we do appreciate the enjoyment of a good old-fashioned snow day on a fresh winter morning. We still believe that kids should have that experience, and we’re thankful that both Carter County and Elizabethton School Districts also believe in snow days. They just come in the wintertime, so take advantage of them.