Snow day! First day of classes for many students dashed by weather

A major overnight storm forced most schools to close, delaying the return to in-person classes

For some Hamilton students, Monday was a snow day after major overnight snowstorm forced many southern Ontario schools to close, delaying the return to in-person learning.

For others, it was another day in front of a screen.

Despite the fact that students still had loaned remote-learning devices at home, all learning — in-person and remote — was cancelled for the day at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB).

The public board’s policy says “inclement weather days will always result in cancellation of school and board operations, as well as transportation,” said spokesperson Shawn McKillop in an email.

In December 2020, public school board trustees rejected a proposed policy change — one that was criticized by teachers’ unions — that would have had students learn remotely from home on bad-weather days, citing inequities and “additional stress” for staff and students. Access to technology, such as devices and reliable internet, was a primary concern.

“Staff must follow and be in accordance with the board policies and procedures,” McKillop said in an email.

Throughout the pandemic, experts have said student learning is suffering with repeated disruptions to school and life, and should be prioritized.

But parents and educators on Twitter were divided Monday on whether schools should offer remote learning on a snow day, many grateful for an unexpected mentalhealth break.

“My members are no doubt taking a good deal of today prepping to return to in-person learning and getting caught up on their marking and planning,” Daryl Jerome, president of the local bargaining unit for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said in an email Monday.

Jerome, who spoke out against the proposed change to the HWDSB’s policy last winter, said remote learning as a snow-day option “wasn’t something that any of us could have possibly predicted during the last round of bargaining.”

“To pivot at the last minute to a remote environment is not an easy

task,” Jerome said. “An in-person lesson is vastly different from a remote one.”

Both major Toronto school boards opted to tack on an extra day of remote learning “to avoid any further disruption to learning,” a Toronto Catholic District School Board spokesperson told the Toronto Star Sunday.

In an email to The Spectator, spokesperson Shazia Vlahos said the decision was per the board’s inclement weather protocol.

“If buses are cancelled, schools are closed for in-person learning and students will have an opportunity to remain engaged in their learning,” she said.

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) offered asynchronous online learning, meaning students work independently on a lesson or assignment with no real-time instruction, for inperson students.

Virtual elementary classes “will operate as per usual,” read a statement on the board’s website.

In a Dec. 3 memo, HWCDSB education director David Hansen and superintendent Angelo Romano said in the event of a snow day “learning activities” must be available to students, but no new material should be introduced.

“Recognizing that each family’s situation is unique with respect to access to technology, these learning activities should be designed as a reinforcement and supplement to assist students in extending their learning,” he wrote.

Though students had access to devices, including internetenabled, Catholic board chair Pat Daly said providing synchronous remote learning would have been a challenge.

“Some teachers had already ... returned equipment to schools and so had the technology back at school,” he said.

Daly also said it was the board’s understanding “that a number of students, for whatever reason, likely would not participate.”

Across the GTA, many school boards — including Toronto and York public and Catholic, and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board — opted for some form of remote learning, either synchronous or asynchronous.

Like the Hamilton public board, Halton and Peel public school boards chose to cancel all in-person and virtual school activities.

The Grand Erie District School Board, which includes the city of Brantford, as well as Brant, Norfolk and Haldimand counties, had a professional activity (PA) day already scheduled.