How Snow Days Will Work At Wilmington Schools Amid Pandemic

WILMINGTON, MA — During a normal year, the news of a snow storm heading for Wilmington would bring on the prospect that school could be canceled. Amid pandemic and with an online school system in place, that prospect in Wilmington has dimmed somewhat.

This year, because of hybrid and distance learning models in place, the state has granted permission to districts to shift to a "distance learning day" instead of cancelling in-person school because of inclement weather. This day will count as a day of school and all students will be expected to log in online to classes.

In Wilmington, the decision on whether to go to remote learning will be up to Superintendent Glenn Brand, after the School Committee gave him discretion last month. Most likely, those will be used as instructional days, so that they do not have to be made up at the end of the year.

But if there are power outages due to a storm, the district will likely move to full snow days, with no school — even if the power outages are localized.

"If there is a concern or an issue with power outages, then in the interest of equity and access, that would drive a decision for the district as a whole," Brand said.

>>Massachusetts In Path Of Two Winter Storm Systems

Local TV news channels that list snow days have added "remote learning days" to their listings online and on the TV tickers.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.