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Snow days don’t always mean students are off the hook from schoolwork

School closings are starting to roll in ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the Miami Valley Wednesday.

But school closures don’t always mean that students are off the hook when it comes to schoolwork.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott check with 20 area school districts and found out most have true snow days.

Principal Lourdes Lambert of Archbishop Alter High School said she checks the forecast and sees a storm coming in, school is out.

If it is, students don’t have to do virtual classes.

>> Area Superintendent explains how local school districts decide to use snow days

“We have a traditional snow day where the kids have off,” Lambert said.

Which some parents enjoy.

“They’re kids that get to be kids. So I prefer them to have the snow day,” Ebony Moore said.

Moore is a mother of three and likes having her kids home. What she doesn’t like is seeing her kids have to learn virtually or handed “blizzard bags” — packets of schoolwork.

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“It doesn’t get counted as a grade and it makes it pointless. Just give them the free day,” Moore said.

Lamber said she can have true snow days since she has planned them into her calendar.

“The state requires 1,001 hours. When I create our calendar for the year we have 1,161 hours,” she explained.

>> Winter storm to hit Miami Valley midweek; What we’re expecting from the storm

This means the up to 15 days can be canceled, though Lambert said in the last 12 years she has never had to use that many.

She makes sure every storm is severe enough before making the call and has students’ safety in mind when she does.

She also thinks having no work is best for students’ mental health.

“I think a break every once in a while is okay,” Lambert said.

Which Moore said her kids should be able to have.

“That’s their mental health day. Yeah, kids have to be stressed, just like we do,” Moore said.




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