Snow days rapidly piling up in midwestern Ontario

As CTV London’s Scott Miller reports, some local schools had their 13th snow day of the season, but how do they make up for the time lost?

As winter weather howls and school buses are cancelled day after day, the number of “snow days” are piling up for students in Grey and Bruce counties.

“Maybe 14 [snow days] for some schools. With such a vast geographical area, there are some days where certain areas are impacted more than others, but overall, I think, 13 or 14 is probably a fair number,” said Jamie Pettit, communications officer with the Bluewater District School Board.

That is a lot of missed school for students in Grey-Bruce, and students in Huron and Perth counties aren’t far behind.

Pettit said while elementary students are given some suggested tasks or studying ideas, secondary school students in the Bluewater board are expected to take their missed classes online all day long.

“In the past, it was always, you know, that no new concepts were being introduced in secondary on snow days. But we’re moving away from that practice whereby now if there are multiple snow days in a row, teachers can actually introduce new concepts. So, you know, really keeping in mind that continuity of learning and the importance of students joining their classes in real time and not just, you know, kind of given some projects in the morning,” said Pettit.

Last year, there were 30 snow days for students in Grey-Bruce, and almost as many in Huron-Perth. Semester one exams were totally cancelled due to last winter’s wicked weather.

“We’re hoping that isn’t the case this year. But, you know, we’ve communicated a plan to our secondary schools for a schedule that they can follow,” said Pettit.

While this week saw most Grey-Bruce schools entirely close due to the weather, every effort is made to keep schools open so students without steady internet can keep pace with ‘snow day’ learning.

“If students can’t connect, and of course they’re able to travel there safely, that they can come to the school environment where they can connect and join their virtual classes,” said Pettit.