Around the midwest, winter storms have caused multiple schools to have snow or non-traditional instruction (NTI) days to occur. In Fayette County, the speculated return date was January 7th. Due to the snow and ice, the county pushed this return to the 16th after starting NTI on the 13th.
In past years, snow days were the only option for a county-wide cancellation. After the COVID lockdown in March of 2020, schools have switched to a modern ‘cancellation’ known as NTI. This non-traditional method uses a virtual means to teach and supply students with work so that the missing days don’t backtrack them at the end of the year.
Unlike NTI days, snow days have a limited use. An estimate of two to three days is given as snow days before they have to make it up at the end of the year. The new NTI days being created help cancel these makeup days, as they are still considered a day of education.
The week Fayette County was supposed to return, the seventh through tenth, the school board decided on snow days. These three days lead to questions on whether the county will make them up by the end of the year.
With freezing temperatures throughout the remainder of January, debates were brought up on whether the district should give the county more NTI or snow days as a safer option through these winter storms.
On January 22nd, there was another NTI day due to temperatures reaching below zero. More wind chill was expected to come over the following week and was expected to stay relatively cold. As the months continue, February is expected to be filled with snow and colder days as well.
