Virtual Classes On Snow Days: Anne Arundel School Board Votes For Weather Plan, WMAR Says

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — A plan to have virtual classes on snow days is one step closer to reality in Anne Arundel County.

The county's Board of Education voted Wednesday to advance a plan to have online instruction on some snow days, WMAR-2 News Baltimore reported.

Officials hope the plan would prevent classes from running later into the summer. Extra snow days pushed the final school day to June 24 last year, WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore said.

"We built in three snow days last year and we used eight, so we added five days to the end of our calendar," Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesperson Bob Mosier told WBAL. "That isn't something that sat well with our families."

Some students, on the other hand, would rather have the day off during inclement weather. Student school board member Zachary McGrath said the vast majority of his peers oppose the plan, WMAR reported.

"This is supposed to benefit the students, but they really want to have the day off," McGrath said, according to WMAR. "They want to have a day in the middle of the year where they can just forget about school for a little bit and be a kid."

The policy is not yet finalized. The Maryland State Department of Education must approve the proposal before it takes effect, WMAR said. As of now, the plan would only affect this school year.

To see more reactions, check out the full stories from WMAR and WBAL.

How It Would Work

The Maryland State Department of Education recently authorized local school systems to switch to online learning for eight days during this school year.

AACPS superintendent Mark Bedell only wants to use those days to continue instruction during inclement weather.

The virtual days could be synchronous, meaning classes happen live, or asynchronous, meaning lessons are recorded and can be completed at any time. No more than three of the eight days can be asynchronous.

To minimize the effects on any semester, schools can only have three online days in any marking period.

The AACPS superintendent would have the final say on whether to use a virtual day and whether it would be synchronous.

Students in grades 3 to 12 and all teachers would have to take their portable devices home daily in case classes move online. Students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade all have devices that stay at home.

Teachers would take attendance during virtual classes, but online days could not hurt a student's grades. There must be opportunities for students to make up work outside of the virtual instruction.

The days would count as full school and work days. Online days could not negatively affect the pay of AACPS employees, including custodians and cafeteria workers.

Families can visit aacps.org/virtualdayplan to learn more.

Related: AACPS Snow Days Could Have Virtual Classes If Plan Passes School Board