District officials explain why APS is ditching snow days

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — APS is saying so long to snow days. On Thursday, district officials answered questions about that decision.

Students will stay home when the weather is too bad for in-class learning, according to APS. They can still play in the snow, too – as long as they complete lessons that teachers will have to prepare in advance.

“What we learned from the pandemic is that we can do teaching and learning differently,” said Dr. Channell Segura, APS chief of schools. “So instead of calling a cancellation on the day, we can still work with our students to provide them instructional tasks.”

Segura said students will be able to complete those instructional tasks remotely while the weather keeps them home.

For students that don’t have internet access, they can complete the work when they return to school – similar to make-up work for a sick day.

Segura says teachers will have to prepare lessons in advance, similar to how they prepare alternative lesson plans if they call out and need a substitute to lead the class.

“We schedule snow make-up days at the end of each school year,” Segura said. “So what is nice about this is it eliminates that, so that students and staff don’t have to make up those days at the end of the year.”

East Mountain APS schools tend to get more snow days than schools in the city, so teachers at those schools will have to prepare more alternate lesson plans because they are the most likely to be affected by the new policy.