Bill Text: NJ AR92 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges DOE to require that school districts maintain tradition of snow days.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [AR92 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AR92-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Urges DOE to require that school districts maintain tradition of snow days.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution urging the Department of Education to require that school districts maintain the tradition of snow days instead of requiring remote instruction.
Whereas, At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Statewide stay-at-home order forced all public and private schools throughout the State to close and shift to remote learning; and
Whereas, During the first year of the public health emergency, students, who were already dealing with the closing of schools and the subsequent move to remote learning, missed out on snow days as some school districts chose to forgo the practice and require that students attend remote classes during snowstorms; and
Whereas, Currently pending before the State Legislature is a bill that would allow school districts to count remote instruction during days of inclement weather towards the 180-day school year requirement; and
Whereas, The pending legislation would allow school districts to require that students participate in remote learning on days the schools are closed due to inclement weather, in lieu of getting a snow day; and
Whereas, Remote learning became a staple of pandemic-era education, but with the return to in person instruction, retaining this practice as an alternative to cancelling class puts an end to the nostalgic snow day as generations of children have known it; and
Whereas, In person instruction has allowed students and parents to begin the process of getting back to their pre-pandemic school routines, and requiring that students revert back to the virtual classroom instead of receiving a snow day puts a burden on parents to once again handle the logistics and realities of remote education; and
Whereas, Snow days provide students with a short break from school, and with residents of the State yearning for a return to normalcy, replacing snow days with a remnant of the pandemic adds the beloved tradition to the list of things lost to the pandemic; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully urges the Department of Education to require that school districts maintain the tradition of snow days instead of requiring remote instruction.
2. Copies of this
resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the
Clerk of the General Assembly to the Commissioner of Education.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the Department of Education to require that school districts allow students to have snow days instead of replacing the practice with remote instruction.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Statewide stay-at-home order forced all public and private schools throughout the State to close and shift to remote learning. As a result, students, who were already dealing with the closing of schools and the subsequent move to remote learning, missed out on snow days, as some school districts chose to forgo the practice and require that students attend remote classes during snowstorms.
Currently pending before the State Legislature is a bill that would allow school districts to count remote instruction during days of inclement weather towards the 180-day school year requirement. This pending legislation would allow school districts to require that students participate in remote learning on days the schools are closed due to inclement weather, in lieu of getting a snow day. Remote learning became a staple of pandemic-era education, but with the return to in person instruction, retaining this practice as an alternative to cancelling class puts an end to the nostalgic snow day as generations of children have known it. In person instruction has allowed students and parents to begin the process of getting back to their pre-pandemic school routines, and requiring that students revert back to the virtual classroom instead of receiving a snow day puts a burden on parents to once again handle the logistics and realities of remote education.
Snow days provide students with a short break from school, and with residents of the State yearning for a return to normalcy, replacing snow days with a remnant of the pandemic, adds the beloved tradition to the list of things lost to the pandemic.
