No More 'Snow Days' For Salem Public Schools

SALEM, MA — Snow days could be a thing of the past in Salem.

At least for one winter.

Salem Superintendent of Schools Stephen Zrike said he plans to make a recommendation to the Salem School Committee to make any traditional "snow days" remote learning days in the district this school year.

Zrike said an exception will be made for extreme weather days that include power or internet outages, but with the option to teach and learn remotely he is making the recommendation in an effort to not have to add any days to the end of the school year.

"We know that can happen in New England," Zrike said of snow, "even on Halloween — or the day before Halloween."

Zrike said those doing in-person learning in the city — which is scheduled to begin on Nov. 16 with kindergarten through second grade, sixth grade, ninth grade and some career and technical students — will be switched to remote, along with those already enrolled in remote learning.

Zrike told the school community in a Facebook Live session that he expects Salem to be designated a "high risk" community for coronavirus spread when the state releases its weekly numbers Friday afternoon, and that he will talk during a virtual town hall meeting scheduled for Monday what that means for in-classroom learning, but that plans remain in place to send some students back to the classroom on Nov. 16.

The virtual meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with parents and guardians having the ability to ask questions via email at salemreturns@salemk12.org.

Zrike said district officials, health staff, facility staff and curriculum officials will be available to answer questions during the town hall meeting. He said a recording of the meeting will be available for later viewing.

"We know there is a lot of anxiety — there is a lot of excitement — but there's also a lot of anxiety about opening our doors to more students," Zrike said, adding he wants the town hall meeting to be a chance for anybody to ask questions on any aspect of the return to in-classroom learning.

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