Snow days will extend academic year for Sycamore School District 427

SYCAMORE – Thanks to the recent winter weather, up to a full school week could be tacked on to the end of the Sycamore school year, and four of those days already are on the calendar.

In lieu of the remote learning days other school districts in DeKalb County have used since the COVID-19 pandemic trigged schools districts across the nation to invest in remote learning platforms, Superintendent Steve Wilder said Sycamore Community School District 427 continues to use traditional snow days.

“That was a request from our teachers. There was a general feeling that e-learning wasn’t as productive as in-person following the end of the COVID pandemic, when we did so much e-learning,” Wilder wrote in an email to the Daily Chronicle. “Second, there is a mental health value to an unexpected day off for our students, staff and for our families. While it can cause challenges for families [such as day care], it is also a day where families can spend time together on a day that was unexpected.”

Although the school district opts to let students and employees take the day off when winter weather makes traveling treacherous, it still has to follow state requirements.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, school districts in the state are required to schedule a minimum of 185 school days and ensure students attend 176 of those scheduled days.

“The state requires that we include [five] ‘emergency days’ in our calendar, which are the days that we use to make up snow days,” Wilder wrote in an email.

School districts statewide are allowed to use e-learning days instead of emergency days, according to state law. It comes down to the preference of district officials.

Because District 427 has traditional snow days, the days in the classroom that students missed are made up with emergency days later in the year.

“Those [emergency days] are included at the end of our calendar, and since today is our fourth snow day, we’ll add four days at the end of the calendar,” Wilder said. “After five emergency days, any further snow days are typically approved by the state as ‘act of God days’ and do not have to be made up.”

For the current school year, as of Tuesday’s snow day, May 30 now will be the last day of school for District 427 students. Teachers will have to stay for one additional day and complete the workweek, Wilder said.

Lacey Lantz, the director of transportation for District 427, said extending the school year by four days wouldn’t cause many issues for her department.

“Extending the school year for us doesn’t create much of an impact,” Lantz wrote in an email. “Our drivers are aware each year that it is a possibility and are very flexible with those added days when necessary. If an issue arises, we deal with it.”

In particularly cold temperatures, members of the school district’s transportation team help each other get their buses started and warmed before leaving the parking lot, and when snow has fallen, they work as a team to scrape off snow and salt sidewalks, Lantz said.

“Our dedicated drivers have also come in on their free time outside of school hours to scrape the snow off their buses after a day/night of heavy snow and start their buses to ensure they are ready to go for the school week, communicating needs as they arise if there are any,” Lantz wrote. “Both our mechanics have come in on cold weather days to start buses, get them moving and complete any maintenance needs as necessary to help prepare them for the following school day.

“My department is very lucky to have such dedicated people working for the students in our district.”

There are myriad factors behind the decision to close Sycamore schools for the day – including current and forecasted temperatures, wind chills, precipitation, wind and visibility – and Wilder said he doesn’t only focus on how the district’s own methods of transportation will fair in the weather.

“I also take into account more than how our buses will handle the conditions. I think about how our student drivers will handle it and the driving conditions for our staff (some of whom live in our area and some of whom travel 30 to 60 miles to get to school and home again),” Wilder wrote.

When a snow day isn’t called, the transportation team works collaboratively with other district departments to create the safest riding experience they can for students, but Lantz said she appreciates Wilder for considering safety when making his decision.

“We are lucky that Mr. Wilder values the safety of our transportation staff and students when making those closure decisions,” Lantz wrote. “We truly appreciate that.”