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School Officials Discuss Equity of Full Remote Learning Snow Days

The Burlington School Committee had a brief discussion surrounding the equity issues of having remote learning days during inclement weather. 

Burlington has three modes of learning this year in the different grade levels: In person, full remote and hybrid. Special Education students are for the most part fully in person learning due to the challenges of remote learning that population faces. 

However, when a snow day is deemed to be a remote learning day the options for special education students, their parents, and teachers are limited and they are obligated to rely on a method perhaps not best suited to their needs. The alternative would be to add the day to the end of the year and give them another session of in person learning. 

The issue was raised at last week’s School Committee meeting by parent Meghan Nawoichik on behalf of Burlington’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). She said having unexpected remote learning days puts a strain on families of special education students. 

“Some of the challenges include that snow days happen and they are unplanned and parents have very little notice,” she told the committee and administration. “It’s all hands on deck with very little time to figure out a plan and during that time parents are expected to work remotely.”

Nawoichik also pointed out the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had ruled last year to end the use of blizzard bags, another form of remote learning during inclement weather, due to concerns around inequity for some students. 

“We recognize that COVID has changed how students are learning and remote is standard but it puts a lot of undue stress on families and teachers and we would like the school committee to reconsider the use of remote learning for snow days and reinforce the hybrid model because we want students in the building learning with their peers,” she said. 

Superintendent Eric Conti said he was open to having further discussions about the matter as an agenda item at a future meeting where he could come more prepared. He said the use of one snow day this year as remote learning was meant to prevent the need of extending the school year in the summer but he heard the concerns of SEPAC. 

“The plan from the state is not to allow remote learning normally but I think if they allow it for good weather days this year they will have a hard time disallowing it for bad weather,” he explained. “However, if the advice is that I should be more mindful of just making it a remote learning day when there is unsafe weather I will certainly take that into consideration.” 

On Tuesday, February 2, Conti did implement a full traditional snow day after a storm. He and the committee also agreed to take up the issue at a later meeting.