Minnesota School Districts Considering 'Online Snow Days'
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) -- With snow in the forecast, school districts are thinking about snow days in the months ahead. Some districts are already turning to online learning when schools are closed.
State law allows up to five E-learning days a school year when there's bad weather. And just like the weather, student reaction to E-Learning at Eden Prairie is both hot and cold.
"Hang out with friends or sit at home and sleep," said twin sisters Evelin and Ella Bartz.
When it comes to snow days, the fun and games may be over for Eden Prairie students in grades six through 12. The first snow day is a freebie -- any after that involve E-learning.
"I think it's good, but I think a lot of students will think it's not necessary because people like snow days," said the Bartz sisters, who are in ninth grade. "It's supposed to be off."
Eden Prairie isn't the first district to adopt this, and they won't be the last. On a snow day, assignments will be posted online by 9:30 a.m.
"Students would log in to their learning platform and they would see the list of assignments from their teacher, and then they just start going through the assignments," said Brett Johnson, communications director with the district.
Attendance for the day will be recorded at 3:30 p.m. Most parents and students we talked with say it's fair.
"Last year we had a lot of snow days, so I think it would be valuable for them to do actually something when they are at home," said parent Michael Bix.
"I like to have relaxed days, but it makes sense because some of the classes we do tend to fall behind with the snow days," said junior Sid Bommareddy.
E-learning isn't possible for every school district. In Minneapolis, internet access isn't available to many students outside of school. Eden Prairie is trying to plan for similar circumstances.
For students that don't have internet access, the school district has resources available for students, like checking out Wi-Fi hot spots at Eden Prairie schools.
On E-Learning days at Eden Prairie, families will be notified at least two hours prior to the regular school start time.
