Ohio law used to require K-12 public schools to make up school days if they closed for more than five “calamity days” in a school year.
Current law says that schools must exceed the state’s minimum number of “hours of instruction” during the school year — 910 hours for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and 1,001 hours for students in grades 7-12, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW).
That means many schools could miss numerous days and still be above state minimums. But most set a policy for the number of days they’ll miss before scheduling make-up days.
Clark-Shawnee allows 10 “calamity days,” Northwestern has five, and Southeastern doesn’t have a contractually set limit, said Superintendent David Shea. Mechanicsburg schools allow for up to 50 hours of missed instruction before makeups. Graham Schools do plan to use three online learning days, but only after they’ve used five calamity closure days.
Graham online example
Graham uses online learning days as an alternative to making up hours in class because of closures. The days mainly consist of review to give students more time to practice and teachers to go further into the content they’re covering in class.
So far this year, Graham’s elementary has been closed six days (one for a gas supply issue) and has had one online learning day. The middle and high school have been closed five days.
Superintendent Chad Lensman said the online day option keeps students engaged, prevents learning loss and avoids needing extensive makeup time later in the year.
“Technology makes remote work more feasible than in the past, but this is also a barrier in our remote area. There are parts of the district that have little to no internet access. This is also why ODEW limits the number of online learning days schools can use to three,” Lensman said. “Teachers will hold online office hours during the school day to check in with students, review lessons, and provide student support.”
Students in younger grades may have a harder time accomplishing online or remote work without a teacher’s hands-on help. Lensman said younger students are provided packets of work for the remote day, or parents can call in an absence as they would on a traditional school day.
Obstacles, middle ground
“There are are pros and cons to remote schoolwork time on calamity days. The most important point is that real-time, face-to-face learning, discussion, and connection with a teacher cannot be replaced by a learning module online,” said Mechanicsburg Superintendent Danielle Prohaska. “Remote learning is not a replacement for new instruction, which is why there are limits to what remote learning can do for student engagement and mastery.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The News-Sun asked schools whether there was a good snow-day middle ground — where a student wasn’t working all day, but was learning something or doing a fun educational activity.
Greenon officials said finding a consistent middle ground is challenging due to technology and resource gaps. “We prioritize ensuring that all students have equitable access to instruction, which is difficult to achieve under short notice snow days.”
Springfield Superintendent Bob Hill said there is a yin-yang of whether kids should be working and learning on snow days.
“The pandemic taught our district that virtual learning does not typically work well in an urban setting. This is primarily due to lack of internet access in many students’ homes,” he said.
But guided online lessons or detailed assignments are not the only ways kids can learn. One-time enrichment activities, whether at home or even out in the snow, are another option.
“Even if a student is not directly ‘assigned’ anything from their teacher, one of the best things that a student — or even better, a student and parent — can do together during a day off from school is to read,“ Hill said. ”Reading builds vocabulary, improves communication and writing skills, reduces stress and boosts comprehension."
Most districts do provide Chromebooks or other technology devices to students, but elementary-age students (or in some districts all students) usually don’t take them home, as they would need to for a snow day.
Greenon Superintendent Darrin Knapke agreed with Hill about internet access problems, and said the occasional unexpected day off likely doesn’t add up to a problem.
“Technology is a significant hurdle ... and some district families lack reliable internet access. Additionally, effective instruction often requires real-time interaction between teachers and students, which is difficult to replicate remotely on short notice,” he said. “Based on past experiences, we found that remote learning during the pandemic was not as effective as in-person instruction. Additionally, we believe the occasional snow day does not significantly impact overall learning outcomes.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Clark-Shawnee Superintendent Brian Kuhn does encourage students to engage in some type of learning (via reading a book, physical activity or learning a new skill) during any calamity days, holiday breaks and summer.
But Kuhn said remote learning is most effective when it’s a continuation or extension of learning currently taking place in the classroom, and there are times when calamity days happen unexpectedly and it’s not possible to do remote learning without planning.
“The learning of new concepts or guided practice of new concepts is best done in the classroom setting where teachers can observe and provide additional instruction and guidance if students need help,” he said. “Learning a new concept remotely can be challenging for many students based on their learning style.”
Fisher said Northeastern would allow remote learning in cases such as a flu or strep throat outbreak that could impact the ability of staff to be present at school. But he said if remote learning is to happen, it would require a minimum of 18 hours notice to prepare and distribute resources.
Southeastern school officials said they encourage learning while kids are out of school if students have access to online learning tools.
Some schools said teachers are prepared, and know how to modify their lessons and adapt their plans during the winter to react when kids return after there is missed instruction time.
“Teachers understand (calamity days) and budget their time on past history, so they look at, on average, (how many missed) days in January and February and know how to budget their time going forward,” Shea said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
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