Montgomery County Public Schools has recently approved virtual learning on snow days. Last month, the Board of Education published a color-coded chart that signals to staff and students whether inclement weather will close or delay schools. For example, yellow signals a two-hour delay and purple signifies a virtual learning day. Snow days have been controversial, with schools and administrators advocating for less missed class time and students ultimately supporting a day off. Virtual learning should not occur on snow days because many students do not approve of them.
Many MCPS students do not support days off. I asked eight different students from schools across the county whether they support virtual snow days, seven out of eight students expressed that they are opposed to virtual instruction occurring on snow days.
This is a result of several factors. Generally, students just want a break. Wootton High School sophomore Rebecca Gao said, “In the past, snow days have always been seen to me as a break from school where I can relax and enjoy a stress-free day…nobody will be happy about doing extra work while they could be enjoying a day off.” Wootton sophomore Neil Kotval agrees, saying that “Snow days are an important part of being a student. In an environment so focused on pushing yourself, snow days are important to allow a chance for relaxation every once in a while.”
In fact, the past two Student Members of the Board (SMOBs) have voted against virtual snow days. Hana O’Looney of Richard Montgomery High School, last year’s SMOB, expressed disappointment that MCPS staff students were not as stakeholders. She wanted a larger survey sent out to the entire county, to consult the students themselves.
This year’s SMOB, Walt Whitman High School junior Arvin Kim, sheds a different light on the problems regarding virtual learning, such as internet connection and teacher planning. Kim voted in opposition to the virtual snow day legislation, displaying concern that the policy would create additional work for teachers and that not all students would be able to log on due to poor internet, according to Montgomery County Media.
Northwest High School sophomore Rukaya Selim said, “Having virtual classes on such short notice lead is overall very inefficient. Complications like internet problems, and materials not being acquired lead to an unenjoyable learning experience.”
Wootton High School sophomore Diya Khetan said, “Snow days should not be virtual because Zoom can be unreliable. There are many people who lack quality wifi in their homes; as a result, they would be at a disadvantage and receive a poorer learning experience. If MCPS wants to prioritize the quality of education for all, no matter socioeconomic status, snow days cannot be virtual school days”
Letting teachers know whether the instruction will be online last minute is also ineffective. Many teachers, such as science and physical education teachers, include group work and activities in their curriculum. Getting a notice at 5 a.m. that school will be on Zoom leaves them with only two hours to come up with an effective lesson plan.
Wheaton High School biology/chemistry teacher Karen Kraus told WTOP News that she can’t easily flip a switch and make a virtual lesson plan that will be as effective and engaging as in-person learning.
Lastly, virtual snow days are simply not needed. Those in favor of virtual snow days mainly argue that they prevent extra days from being added on to the end of the school year, thus making students’ summers shorter. “Snow days should be virtual because then I don’t have to spend the rest of June in school when I could be doing other things,” Wootton High School student Naysa Mustafa said.
The problem with this argument is that it assumes that MCPS schools will exceed their given snow days. MCPS school years have 4 to 7 snow days pre-built into the calendar. So far, we have only exceeded this number during the 2013-2014 and the 2021-2022 school years. Since there is no guarantee that we will exceed our set number of planned snow days, virtual snow days should only be implemented unless we exceed the number of snow days given. Other than that, we should not enforce a rule that the majority of the county does not want.
Written by Noor Mahmoud of Thomas S. Wootton High School
Photo courtesy of MCPS