The Omaha Public Schools district announced a new Inclement Weather Remote Learning Day Schedule for all OPS students and staff. For the 2023-24 school year, the new remote learning day schedule entails key changes in the procedure.
Interim Superintendent Matthew Ray announced the changes on Oct. 6.
Teachers will publish asynchronous lessons and hold office hours for students and families. By 8:30 a.m., material needed for classes will be published on either Canvas or Teams.
Teachers will use office hours to provide students and/or parents an opportunity to meet via Teams, as well as allow students to ask about the work given digitally. Teacher-led professional learning for students will offer time for virtual development and collaboration. Teachers may decide to post sign-up sheets or even post and share the links for meetings when the time comes.
Student attendance will also no longer be taken.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the snow day schedule was much different. Early in the mornings, teachers would plan and prepare for their day and all their meetings. From 9:10 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. were the four scheduled meetings required for students who wanted to be counted for attendance, each 25 minutes long. After the planned periods were finished, the rest of the day was more teacher office hours, and more plans/preparations would be made.
When the pandemic first started, schoolwork was transferred from in-person to completely online for the health and safety of students and staff. Students were obligated to regularly attend their scheduled classes virtually, as well as complete and learn the required material.
Even after the COVID-19 pandemic ended and students returned to regular in-person classes, true snow days vanished. Even on inclement weather days, students were required to be present for Teams or Zoom meetings.
“As a student, I do like the fact that we don’t have to meet anymore because it just feels like a waste of our day off,” junior Arisa Lattison said.
While the changes are not a return to true snow days, they are a step toward it.
“What I would really like to see is them going back to traditional snow days, but this a good compromise,” American Government teacher Jordan Boyer said.
