Parents, take note: The eLearning plan for days when school is out due to weather will be changing for next school year.
Starting in the fall, every day that school is closed for weather will be an eLearning day — unless those days are back to back.
For example, if school is closed on Monday due to weather, that day will be an eLearning day. But if school is closed that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well, those days will not be eLearning days; they will be regular snow make-up days that will be tacked onto the calendar, Superintendent Laura Hammack said.
When an eLearning day is used, that day does not have to be made up at the end of the year.
If school is closed on a Monday, and students are back in class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but then school is closed again that Friday, Monday and Friday would both be eLearning days since the days were not consecutive.
If school is closed on a Friday and also on the following Monday after the weekend, only Friday would be an eLearning day.
Last school year was the first year for eLearning days. Every third snow day was an eLearning day.
Before a plan was created for next school year, a survey was sent to families and school employees to understand how they felt about eLearning days, Hammack said. “We got really strong data back that indicates that there was a strong support of using eLearning days for inclement weather make-ups,” she said.
“But it’s fair to say that there were differences of opinions regarding how those eLearning days should be used next year.”
Hammack said the plan presented to the board was a compromise among the different opinions.
“We had a large number of folks who wanted every single closure day to be an eLearning day. We had folks that wanted to stick with what we’ve been doing. We had folks who wanted to do every other day,” she said.
“It’s fair to say, though there was not a majority, there were certainly folks who did not want eLearning days.”
Last fall, a survey was sent to everyone on the school district’s email list, and 402 people responded including teachers, parents and guardians. Of those, 8 percent said they did not have internet at home.
Students without internet at home will still have one week from the date the eLearning day was called to complete and submit assignments.
“I think it’s important that I clarify, some folks are saying (on the survey) their cellular connection is their internet. They access it on their phones. There’s no doubt connecting is still a problem. We know that’s an issue for folks. That’s why we give that week to try to allow for folks to get stuff turned in,” Hammack said.
Hammack said the decision was made to not have consecutive eLearning days so as to not overwhelm families or educators.
To help keep track of which days are eLearning days and which are snow make-up days, Hammack will say which one the day will be in her phone call announcing the school closure.
Support staff who would work on an eLearning day will be able to make up the hours they don’t work on those days at the end of the school year, but it will not be required, Hammack said. “If they want to make sure they get those hours, we’ll put them to work, but if they don’t want to come into work, they don’t have to,” she said.
The plan was vetted by the Brown County Educators Association and the district’s administration team before being presented to the school board.
The plan was approved unanimously 4-0 on June 6. President Steve Miller Jr. was not at the meeting.
