I was saddened and dismayed recently to learn that several local school systems, including RSU1, decided to have school remotely instead of a snow day last week. If ever there were a day that would be a snow day, it was last Thursday, when snow began at daybreak and lasted all day, coming down at over an inch an hour.

Any pre-pandemic and pre-remote learning day, there would have been no question. Kids throughout the district would have woken up to the delicious news that they would get an unexpected day free, a break from routine, a day to make a snowman or angel, throw snowballs, or just lounge around. My own kids are long out of school now, but I felt very sorry for those still coming along. I heard from a mom who has several kids in the Bath schools. She said she just gave them a snow day off anyway. Can’t the administration think the same way?

As a parent and former school board member, I know full well the annual dance around getting the calendar to square with the necessary days for instruction, and coming to grips with disruptions to the schedule. It’s also obvious that being connected virtually is a huge and useful tool for helping to deliver education, made all the more pressing by the pandemic.

But it’s also been a tough year (understatement) for everyone, and keeping old traditions and having connection with the past are more important than ever. We all remember snow days. I trust that they won’t become a thing of distant memory. It’s more than just a sigh.

Charles Durfee,
Woolwich