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I'm in Atlanta right at present, where schools took every precaution to avoid a repeat of the logistical nightmare that unfolded two weeks agone when 2 inches of snow paralyzed the urban center. And with the roadways iced over and the precipitation piling upwardly, it looks like pedagogy officials made the right decision.

Preparations for the latest storm — which local meteorologists say could reach "historical proportions" – included deciding well in advance to cancel schoolhouse today, when the worst of the weather is expected to move through the region. (Panic levels high at the local stores, every bit people stocked up on the necessities and the not-so-necessary. Overheard at my hipster corner market earlier this calendar week: "Get the Greek yogurt!" "How much?" "All of it!")

At that place's a pop chart making its mode effectually the Internet, showing how much snow information technology takes to cancel classes in different parts of the state. While that makes for fun reading, the northern comedians (well played, Sabbatum Nighttime Live) and Twitter commenters deriding southern cities as somehow wimpy when information technology comes to snow are missing the point.

Indeed, classes were canceled here Tuesday likewise, which seemed an overreaction when the weather in the metro area amounted to little more than than an intermittent chilly drizzle. Simply in many cases these are municipalities that simply aren't equipped to de-ice roads or plow streets on a major scale. And without those services, which are commonplace in regions where snow is plentiful, getting to school can become a existent take chances. That'due south why when schools shut down abruptly Jan. 29, many families had no way to get their children dwelling. How much a lack of planning contributed to the problems in Atlanta is being wrangled over past the politicians.

This winter has been particularly barbarous for academic calendars across the country. In Minnesota, the governor canceled classes for all public schools last month, the kickoff time that's happened since the 1996-97 academic yr. In Michigan, where rough winters are commonplace, many districts have already wearied their allotment of six snow days and lawmakers are considering giving schools more flexibility to add on instructional minutes. Boosted cancelations will require extending the school day or year to brand upwards the time. In Louisiana, districts program to clasp in the makeup days alee of the statewide assessments in mid-March, and then that students take every bit many days of instruction as possible before their proficiency is measured.

Many districts are because shortening – and even canceling – leap vacation to make up for snow days. The Louisville Courier-Periodical reported that in eastern Kentucky, the 4,000 students in the Perry County Schoolhouse District have lost 21 days of schoolhouse this yr.

"Since our kids returned from Christmas break on January. ii, they have been in school a total of six days," Superintendent Jonathan Jett told the Courier-Journal. "This has been a very difficult winter, merely we have no other choice than to prioritize instruction and go far equally much class time equally possible."

Simply how much practise snowfall days really injure educatee accomplishment? According to one Harvard Academy researcher, the answer may be "not much," at least when it comes to statewide tests. (Hat tip to Minn. St. Cloud Times education reporter Marta Jewson for bringing the study to my attention.)

Banana Professor Joshua Goodman of Harvard's Kennedy Schoolhouse of Authorities found keeping school open during a storm had a more negative effect than canceling classes, in function because parents often kept their kids habitation anyway, which meant they fell behind in their lessons.

The findings are "consequent with a model in which the key challenge of pedagogy is coordination of students," Goodman wrote. "With slack time in the schedule, the time lost to closure can be regained. Student absences, notwithstanding, force teachers to expend time getting students on the same page every bit their classmates."

I spoke with a few Atlanta parents about the preemptive school closures and about were supportive. A father who grew upwardly in Connecticut said the snowfall day had been a rite of passage in his own childhood and he was enjoying sharing the experience with his ain kids – at least on a very express basis. Several people I talked to had been stuck on roads for hours during the prior storm trying to get home, and a few had friends or family unit who even spent the dark sleeping in their cars or in stores.

"I don't want to worry about them on the bus sliding around the road," a mother told me while waiting in line at the market place Monday night. "I'd rather have (my kids) safe than be sorry."

This story appears courtesy Teaching Writers Association. Reproduction is not permitted.

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Emily Richmond is the public editor for the National Educational activity Writers Association. She was the education reporter for the Las Vegas Dominicus from 2002 to 2010, and in 2011 she was Knight-Wallace Young man at...