Wake up at 6 a.m., turn on the TV, and watch the bottom of the screen to see which districts are out for the day–this is what’s commonly known as the snow day routine. 

However, with COVID and the now common practice of “pivoting” to virtual learning whenever school is disrupted, there’s a new routine: wake up half an hour before your first period, log on to Google Meets, and get dressed to turn your camera on. Whether or not this new norm is the best practice is the question at North Little Rock High School.

  Snow days were supposed to be seen as a break, a day to play in the snow and have fun with friends. But the new system has made snow days anything but that. Madison Hernandez, who teaches Family and Consumer Science, emphasizes the rare occurrences of snow days and how they should be given the significance they deserve and not used as another opportunity to attend virtual schooling. 

   “I will say that I understand why the school board wants the snow days to be done this way, to not lose any education, however, I believe it is also a disservice for our students and staff. Snow days are unexpected and honestly don’t happen that often in the south, so these days should be enjoyed by students and staff!”

   What districts also don’t take into consideration is the power outages that come with freezing weather, causing some students to be at a disadvantage when they come back to school. While students are allowed to make up missed work, it is a struggle when it comes to attending classes. Many students accumulate absences due to poor internet connection and not being able to attend the meets.

Additionally, students as a whole don’t tend to get work done as efficiently at home. 

 Junior at NLRHS Malachi King states, “I do like being virtual because I get to stay home, but it isn’t as easy to stay focused on getting work done.”

   This issue should be prioritized due to more snow days than usual toppling on the district this year. Though we don’t know what the weather may bring next winter