Snow days are now likely to be virtual learning days

Times have changed during the ongoing pandemic, and snow days as students knew them will never be the same.

Before the pandemic, district leaders had the option to delay school, dismiss early, or  cancel school when there was snow, but now they have the option to continue learning at home.

Thanks to the lockdown making everyone more familiar with virtual learning, snow days will now have a high chance of being a virtual learning day for Boone County Students, according to Superintendent Matthew Turner.

But there is a slim chance that snow days can still cancel instruction.

“It is possible that the school will have a snow day without virtual learning,” Turner said in an interview. “But the school calendar is very complex. We have to follow regulations and laws about how many holidays we have off, when school ends and starts, and how many days we have to have.”

Many students want a free snow day including sophomore Nolan Cook.

“Students deserve a break once in a while, so they shouldn’t have NTI days on snow days,” Cook said.

He suggested that the district could allow a certain number of snow days before they switch to virtual learning days.

Sophomore Lindsay Ramirez disagrees, saying students are already “at home getting a break” on virtual learning days.

“I thought NTI days were really easy because I was comfy at home,” Ramirez said. “If (the district) gave days off, we would be in school longer.”

Boone County High School announced in an e-email that students will be required to attend a Google Meet for the first hour of each block on virtual learning days.

Students who do not attend the Google meets will be counted absent.