Though the amount of snow the region got was far less than forecasted, sub-freezing temperatures caused ice to stick to the roads for weeks, causing students across the region to miss significant time in school.
“They're sitting inside a whole lot, and then they have to do all this homework. They can't go outside and enjoy the snow,’ said Samantha May, a parent from Rowan County.
“And, I don't know, just me growing up, it was cool to have a snow day, you know.”
Rowan County Public Schools has used all 10 of its non-traditional instruction days this year, which allow students to do their schoolwork remotely.
“I think that NTI 8 or 10 days in a row is a little bit too stressful for kids. And I get and I understand it, but at the same time, it's stressful for them. It's stressful for us as parents. It's probably stressful for the teachers,” May said.
The number of NTI days schools get depends on how many districts request at the beginning of the year, with 10 being the upper limit. Fayette County Public Schools used four, and called the rest of its days off as regular snow days.
Allison Slone is a fellow Rowan Countian and a special education teacher who has served on the Kentucky Board of Education. She said there are positives to NTI: It keeps students productive, and keeps the school year from cutting into teachers’ summer jobs.
“That's a huge problem when we have to make up a lot of days at the end of the school year for our educators and other school employees as well,” Slone said.
But there are also drawbacks: NTI days can also worsen some inequities for students.
“Sometimes the Internet goes out because of the weather, and so those kinds of things become problems.,” Slone said. “You have children that don't have parents at home that can help them and ensure that they stay on task and they get their work done.”
Long, unplanned breaks during the school year — NTI or otherwise — can be detrimental for students with anxiety and depression. That’s because of less socializing and breaks in their routines. It can also be a struggle for children with learning disorders.
Michelle Martel is the chair of the University of Kentucky’s psychology department. She says the long time off can make for a difficult readjustment period.
“Children that already struggle with learning because they have a learning disorder, for example, or because they have ADHD or some other kind of behavior problem, are going to be differentially, negatively impacted by this time off and have a harder time coming back in,” Martel said.
That break can also be stressful for parents, who are juggling their usual work responsibilities with childcare.
“I imagine that that's particularly true for households where income is lower and they're less able to deal with potential loss in income, or less likely to be able to be flexible with their schedule,” Martel said.
Slone said those problems can be mitigated. She’d like more discussions on what works best for students doing work outside the classroom. She thinks more individualized lesson plans are the future.
“I think we're going to have to offer options,” Slone said. “I think some districts are doing this, where some students do the online work, some students get paper and pencil type work.”
She also thinks there should be more input at the district level from inside the classroom.
“I would love to see every single district have a non-voting, ex-officio student and teacher sitting on their board of education, and that's something I've been fighting for for a while that can help make these decisions,” Slone said.
As the change from snow days to classroom learning continues, Martel recommends kids get plenty of sleep and reorient their schedules.
“It's going to take a few days to transition back after such a kind of an unexpected, long amount of time off. I think that just everyone being kind to themselves, I think, is kind of my best advice,” she said.
