Say Goodbye To Snow Days

You wake up and look out your window at a yard of untouched fallen snow. School is canceled, and a day of opportunities full of winter fun is suddenly before you. But a Canvas notification melts away your excitement. Class is still in session.
Snow days are a staple of growing up in an all-season climate. It is a rare occasion where students of all ages can have an unscheduled day off, free to enjoy the winter wonderland.
For most adults, snow days were the stuff of legend.
“I grew up in Minnesota, so we had many snow days. Just what felt like snowbanks tripling my height as a little kid. We actually had snow days where we would sled or build a snowman or be outside,” ceramics teacher Blair Porter said.
But snow days for students now are as scarce as the snow this season in Utah. Thanks to technology – Canvas and Zoom, as a couple of examples – students are still expected to be productive in any winter wonderland that might come.
The current Salt Lake City policy of weather prompted school closures is advised by The Utah Department of Transportation and The National Weather Service and at the discretion of the superintendent of the school board on deciding snow days.
But schools must be careful declaring snow days because spontaneous days off can often create problems for families, especially when parents still have to go to work themselves.
“You don’t know what a whole family may be dealing with, right? The parents may still need to go to work, or it may be dangerous on the roads,” Porter said. “I feel like it should be at the discretion of the families and what their circumstances are.”
Since COVID and the new accessibility of online learning, these days at home have now been designated for online school. The Salt Lake City District requires a minimum of 180 classroom days, and Highland cuts it close to that exact requirement, with any unplanned school closures resulting in an extension to the school year.
“I think it makes a lot more sense than skipping the day overall. Skipping the day really throws off the calendar,” Highland principal Jeremy Chatterton said.
The guidelines of these online learning days are up to interpretation, with some teachers leaning towards in person zoom meetings and new assignments, and others favoring asynchronous workdays.
“It is a contract expectation that they’re providing some sort of educational support during this time. We don’t expect them to run a zoom class, but their canvas is at least updated and that they are available for any student that might need them,” Chatterton said.
Productivity really comes into question with some of Highland’s less traditional programs, such as the majority of the CTE and arts classes.
“It might not be productive in the traditional sense, where certainly we can’t work on our projects, but I guess it’s a good reset day for students to submit work on canvas and do grade checkups and things like that,” Porter said.
As debates continue on whether online learning days are beneficial, a more serious issue is quietly unfolding. Global warming is beginning to severely impact Salt Lake City winters, gradually changing weather conditions. What was once a childhood ritual of waiting for school cancellations is becoming increasingly rare, with rising temperatures threatening to make snow days a nostalgic memory rather than an annual wintertime hope.
This year, there has been more snow in New Orleans than in the Salt Lake Valley, for example. Snowpack levels are under 100% throughout our state, with the lowest falling at 25% in southwest Utah.
The future of winter in Salt Lake is changing, not just in policy but in physical reality.