SOMERSET COUNTY, Md. - After days of gloomy weather on Delmarva, Somerset County neighbors might be forgiven for wanting to take a day off for a "sun day" on Thursday.
But the real buzz on the streets of Crisfield is a proposal before the County Board of Education to replace snow days with virtual learning.
"I think it's a great idea, you know, for kids to be able to miss a snow day and still do the work at home so they don't get behind and have to make up the days in the summer," said John Marshall, of Crisfield.
Down the street, Patty Green thought that snow days actually helped with children's learning.
"It might give them a way of release when they're out there with the snow, and then be able to go back to school and learn," Green said.
But it just might not be the end for the coveted snow day.
Maryland law allows school districts to replace up to eight snow days with virtual learning. Of those eight days, at least five must be "synchronous learning," which means that students and teachers must meet through an online meeting platform for at least four hours per day.
However, up to three may be used for "asynchronous learning," which means that students take home or download assignments and complete them at their own pace and in their own time. No online meetings are required.
Somerset County's proposal focuses on the latter.
"So here in Somerset, although we are submitting our plans to be able to do all eight virtual days, we are only going to be using the three asynchronous days because that's what's most equitable for all of our students," said Victoria Miele of the Somerset County Board of Education.
This means that while Somerset County will reserve the right to replace up to eight snow days with synchronous or asynchronous learning, they're planning on only using three of the asynchronous learning days, and the rest will be traditional snow days that will be made up at the end of the school year.
Miele explained that the proposal was a way to keep up learning while minimizing the hassle of a longer school year.
"If there is a way they can still get the learning and instruction that they need from home, and end the school year sooner, that's a win-win for everybody," Miele said.
The Somerset County Board of Education will meet at 6 p.m. on October 18 at the Board's offices located at 7982A Tawes Campus Drive in Westover. They will vote on the proposal at that meeting.
Public comment is invited at that meeting. Written comments can be sent via email to boardmeeting@somerset.k12.md.us.
So while some changes may be coming to the snow day in Somerset County, the magic of those snowy mornings won't be gone forever.