The Duncan School District announced Friday that today and Tuesday are officially virtual days because of the high chances for severe, winter weather.
The announcement came Friday at the start of third hour at Duncan Middle School.
The virtual days came into play in order to preserve some of the students and teachers’ Fridays off later this school year.
Usually, the school district has built in snow days that allow for students and teachers to have days off if there is a threat of bad weather or if bad weather arrives. So far this year, Duncan Public Schools have used three snow days.
If the school district uses too many snow days, the days end up having to be made up, which means the scheduled Fridays off in May and April could be changed into school days instead.
But with Duncan Public Schools making today and Tuesday virtual days, the days away from school won’t count against students and teachers. Instead, students are giving the ability to learn while they’re at home and helps to make sure they can still have their Fridays off.
With the high winds and heavy snowing, the possibilities of a city-wide power outage could be more likely to happen.
Christy McIntyre, DMS assistant principal, said teachers will be working throughout the day today and Tuesday.
“If the internet does happen to go out, then us teachers and staff will just have to look past that, and teachers will have to be understandable when it comes to the needs of the students,” McIntyre said.
McIntyre also explains that the school handed out hotspots to those in need.
“If you’re having internet difficulties, the parents can send an email and explain that their child isn’t able to work because of the internet,” McIntyre said. “The kid can then make up for those assignments later without any penalties.”
Anytime that students are not able to attend school can affect the learning abilities of students.
“I think that it is best for students to be at school to learn because it is easier,” says McIntyre.
Although, because the world is evolving into a virtual based world, students will be able to receive assignments on Google Classroom. If students are having trouble completing an assignment, email is available to touch base with teachers.
Throughout the day Friday, students were continuously reminded via intercom and emails to take home everything they need on a daily basis, like workbooks and Chromebooks.
