Today, in Indianapolis, all 11 schools district have closed their buildings for in-person instruction due to a winter storm. Some schools are still expecting students to learn.
Historically, in Indianapolis, that was not always the case.
Below is a picture I took today of my deck around 8:15 a.m. this morning.
I entered kindergarten in Indy in 1988 and graduated high school in the city in 2001. Anyone who went to school during that time knows we would have been at the bus stop with snow falling down on our faces. School would not have been canceled the night before or even this morning.
If the storm got really bad, teaching and learning would have continued. We wouldn’t have been sent home early. If it weren’t safe for the buses to take us home when the school day ended, we would have stayed at school until it was.
The response to inclement weather has changed over the years. At 3 p.m. yesterday, Perry Township canceled school.
Around 5 p.m. Washington Township, where my sons attend school, announced they would be closed today.
Some school districts did not call it until this morning. What is interesting is what school districts have decided to have teachers and students do at home when the school buildings are closed.
Dr. Barrentine, an educator I know, who is the Superintendent of Shenandoah School Corporation in Middletown, Indiana tweeted last night, “Raiders–NO School tomorrow…it is a traditional snow day. Enjoy the snow and be safe!”
There are some Indy school districts that did the same. Pike Township, Wayne Township, and Speedway Schools have traditional snow days today. Students will not attend live lessons or complete any assignments at home. The bulk of Indy school districts have synchronous e-learning where schools are providing live lessons. Those districts include Washington Township, Warren Township, Lawrence Township, Decatur Township, and Franklin Township. School districts like Perry Township, IPS, and Beech Grove City Schools have an asynchronous e-learning day where it appears that students are completing assignments independently at home and accessing those assignments from the school district learning management system.
This is an unintended consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw that we could do school online, which became the new snow day, inclement weather response. However, we also know that many students do not learn from last-minute online school. Many teachers don’t teach well when they suddenly have to shift to online teaching. Good luck being a science teacher and having to pivot a lab day to Zoom.
What is the answer? I think we should look at Wayne Township. I worked in the district for six years. There were built-in days into the school calendar in addition to the required number of school days from the state. When school closes for inclement weather, teachers and students chill at home. There are no last-minute lessons shifted to Google Classroom or Canvas, and students still attend the required number of days of school.
I also asked my children their opinion. One of my sons said he was indifferent about Zoom lessons or attending school in person. My other son said he would just prefer to go to school or prefer to just be home playing his video games.