LPS reveals how an abundance of snow days could impact the school year

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Two recent snow storms and cold weather have given LPS students four snow days in the past two weeks.

In a press release Friday, the district said it has a plan to ensure students meet state requirements when it comes to educational hours.

Snow days are not “built-in” to the schedule, but the district plans out the year with additional instructional hours in case of snow days or other emergency closures.

Superintendent Dr. Paul Gausman said no two storms are ever the same, so it’s always a unique decision.

“We’re not gonna close school every time we’re simply below zero for example or below freezing,” he said.

Gausman said a team of LPS officials work with the city, county and weather experts to decide whether to cancel school.

“There are days, whereas a superintendent, we get to about noon and I think, ‘Eh that wasn’t as good a call as it could of been,’ or ‘Boy that was a good call today to keep everyone safe,'” he said. “We’re making our decision based on what we think is going to happen.”

The Nebraska Department of Education requires elementary and middle schools to have 1,032 instructional hours, and high schools to have 1,080 hours.

LPS said the district must also account for all missed time, including early out days and ACT testing days.

Gausman said when it comes to inclement weather, he’d rather cancel school than try to do classes online.

“You’ve probably seen some other districts that make an attempt to do some sort of virtual learning as a part of keeping school moving,” he said. “We firmly believe here that the best way for our students to learn is in a classroom with a teacher right in front of them.”

Right now, the district has enough remaining hours for elementary to have one extra day. Middle schools have over 10 days left, and high schools have about 5 days.

To ensure LPS meets the state’s required hours, officials say they look at various solutions including adjusting daily schedules and release days.

Any changes made would be communicated with staff and families ahead of time.