No more snow days for 5 South Carolina school districts
One school district in South Carolina has gotten rid of snow days. In fact, they’ve done away with al inclement weather days altogether.
The change is part of a pilot program for the 21 schools in Anderson School District Five as well as four other South Carolina school districts: Spartanburg 1, Spartanburg 7, Pickens and Kershaw.
Anna O. Baldwin, director of eLearning and integration for Anderson School District Five, told "Good Morning America" the kids use Chromebooks to receive their lessons on days when schools have to close for inclement weather.
"The goal is to keep students learning, even when the weather prevents schools from operating," she said. "An eLearning day is very similar to a normal school day."
Baldwin said the idea was championed by the district Super Intendant Tom Wilson. "He was visiting family in Georgia last winter and saw that a district was going to have an eLearning day and all other districts would be closed due to inclement weather. It was his vision and the financial investment of a Chromebook for all of our students K to 12 that sparked pursuing an eLearning Day for our district."
The district has already experienced a school closure.
"Overall, our parents and students were positive about the eLearning Day pilot," Baldwin said.
Cathy Tims, a parent in the district, told "GMA" she was in favor of the idea.
"I personally really like the idea. The kids can do their school work from home and parents don’t have to worry about whether their kids are safe or not. We also don’t have to worry about how we are going to take them to school and pick them up if weather changes," she said.
Snow and inclement weather days may seem like a right of childhood passage, but Tims said her kids weren't too bothered by the change in policy.
"At first they didn’t like the fact of having to do school work at home, but after they finally had to do it, they realized it was much better to do the work in the convenience of home, than at school. So they like it much better now," Tims said.
The upside for the kids is that they don't have to make up any days at the end of the school year.
"When we have make up days at the end of the school year, students are just making up 'time,' Baldwin said. "Typically, student attendance on inclement weather make up days is very low."
