Some N.B. parents say at-home learning should take place on snow days

MONCTON -

The first major snowfall of the season for the Moncton, N.B. area brought with it the first snow day of the school year for many.

All 39 schools in the Anglophone East District, as well as 26 schools in the Francophone South District, were closed Monday.

Before the snow began to fall just after 9:00 a.m., streets and sidewalks in the hub city were mostly bare, leaving some starting their day questioning the closure.

“There was like zero snow, so then I looked online and it was like, ‘The school is closed,’ so I was like, ‘Oh, okay?,'” said Diani Blanco, a Moncton resident and mom of two young boys.

Director of communications for the Anglophone East School District, Stephanie Patterson, says the decision to shut down schools for the day was made just after 6 a.m.

Snowfall warnings of up to 15 cm expected for parts of the province had road conditions at dismissal time the main concern.

“Because we have over 10,000 students who are bussed to school every day, certainly forecasted conditions impact the decision of whether or not we would be comfortable putting students on busses, even at end of the day,” said Patterson.

But with students experiencing plenty of disruption between the COVID-19 pandemic and recent workers union strikes, Monday’s closure generated lots of conversation online about at-home learning replacing traditional snow day fun.

Patterson says the union strike saw students learning from home via online education tools for a total of 11 days earlier this month, but didn’t have a total number of at-home days attributed to COVID-19 cases within each school. 

Not everyone is in favour of the suggestion to replace snow days. Blanco says the expectation for students and staff to switch between in-person and at-home learning with such little notice is not realistic.

“I don’t think it’s fair to give the teachers extra work last minute like that. I feel like it’s okay, just give them a break, let the kids play outside,” said Blanco.

In an email to CTV News Atlantic, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says in line with their collective agreements, teachers are not required to report to work when schools are closed due to inclement weather.

With more snow and possibly freezing rain expected overnight, it’s unknown if students will be back in the classroom Tuesday morning.