How Snow Days Will Work At Acton Schools Amid Pandemic

ACTON, MA — The Acton-Boxborough Regional School District has been operating under a hybrid model for nearly five months, but what happens when it snows?

Traditionally, schools would close so that buses didn't have to make the slippery drive, but with half of the students in-person and the other half online each week, the district doesn't plan on just canceling school for in-person learners.

Instead, the district has a system in place so that if and when a snow day is called, in-person students would simply crack open their laptops at home and join their remote classmates. The Superintendent is responsible for deciding when to cancel, delay or close schools, but each instance will depend on road conditions, forecasts and other factors.

If there is a closure, delay or cancellation, the superintendent will call parents by 5:30 a.m. Patch and other local news will have the closures online as well as the district website.

In the event of a major power outage, the district will call a "traditional snow day" and no remote or in-person classes will be held. The district said the circumstances for a traditional snow day have to be one of the following:

• Greater than 10-15 percent of all households in the district lose power.
• If it can be reasonably anticipated that over 10-15 percent of homes lose power.
• If other circumstances arise that preclude students and staff from effectively accessing technology.

A traditional snow day will be added on to the end of the school year and will be scheduled as an in-person school day.

Read Acton-Boxborough School District's full plan, with details for each grade level.