New Jersey could be getting rid of snow days for good!
A new bill introduced would make it so schools could offer remote learning if they have to close the building for bad weather, a state of emergency, a public health order or any other circumstance that may require the school to stay closed. The state Senate passed the bill, voting 39-0, to allow virtual learning to count as the 180-day school requirement. The bill now must pass through the state Assembly before Governor Murphy has a say on it.
“Now we have the ability to conduct remote learning during a weather emergency and not lose a day of instruction due to snow storms or other hazardous weather,” said Sen. Nicholas Sacco, D-Hudson, one of the bill’s sponsors. “Our hope is that this will help districts to avoid extending the school year as we continue to see more extreme weather events.”
Steve Baker, the spokesman for the NJEA, the state’s largest teacher’s union, does not think that it is necessarily good to replace snow days with virtual class.
“Remote and in-person lesson plans are not necessarily interchangeable and cannot always be switched on a moment’s notice,” he said. “While remote was necessary and important when schools had to use it for extended times for health and safety reasons during the pandemic, pretty much everyone agrees that in-person instruction is almost always the better option.”
Do you think NJ should do away with snow days? Let us know in the comments!