As a result of the new online format used for the first quarter and part of the second quarter, students will no longer have school off when the weather is too poor. 

Due to regulations from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, districts are required to have 1,044 hours of scheduled instruction. If snow days were not virtual those requirements would not be met.

Principal Dr. Emily McCown said the plan if a snow day is called is to report to class at noon.

“We will use the same virtual schedule as we currently run on Mondays with the 30 minute Zoom calls. This will be for both second quarter and second semester,” McCown said.

This decision was made by the four high school principals and district administrators. McCown also said that the mental health of students was considered in decision making. 

Social Studies teacher Rebecca McLaughlin said that she thinks how teachers will plan to handle snow days will determine which courses they are teaching and where the snow days fall in the course of a unit.

“For my class, if we are about to have a test, we will probably have at least a little class to review, so we can still be able to stay on track with the pacing of our course. This would especially be important for students preparing for AP exams or other high stakes tests,” McLaughlin said. “Another thing that will make a difference in how I handle the snow days is whether or not it is just one day or if we are looking at a week of snow days.  If it’s going to be a long time, we will definitely have to get some traditional/full classes in.”