At first thought, when a person hears the word snow, one would think of the wonderful and positive memories from their childhood, such as playing, making snow angels, and/or having snowball fights. Although the idea of snow as a kid brings great memories and fun times, as we grow up we find ourselves sighing and stressing when snow gets brought up. Maybe our reaction is due to the fact that we simply hate the cold or hate driving in the snow.

Lately however, we have found our hatred towards the snow is due to the fact that with every inch of snow comes a day off from school. Now, one may think that a day off from school is something to look forward to–as one can catch up on some sleep or get some homework done.  The residents of Virginia Beach, however, have experienced that having snow days isn’t always the best solution for dealing with the snow, because every school day that is missed is another day that has to be made up.

In the past, VBCPS has dealt with making up these snow days in a variety of ways. The school system tends to choose to make up the days missed on staff days and very seldom resorts to taking away days from our vacation breaks. In a very few instances, though, VBCPS has made students go to school on a few Saturdays and even extended the school day by 30 minutes. This proves that the school system doesn’t know how to approach the snow situation.

In my opinion, snow days can be easily dealt with when it comes to maintaining the 180 school days that are required each year. In fact, making up these school days can be avoided entirely. Since, for the past couple of years, VBCPS has been affected by these snow days, we can start to automatically assume that Virginia Beach will be affected by snow each year.

By assuming this, our school district should start the school year earlier by five days. By starting school earlier, if it does snow and students/teachers end up missing school, the district wouldn’t have to worry about making up these days. So, no more going to school on staff days, Saturday school, or extended days as a result of snow. If, by chance, it doesn’t end up snowing during the school year and we don’t end up missing school, the amount of extra days from the beginning of the year can be removed from the end of the year.

Using this as a solution for snow days will benefit everyone in the Virginia Beach school district. Not only do we not have to worry about making up snow days (and can therefore focus on enjoying the snow and the time off) but we may even be fortunate enough to get out of school earlier than usual if the deemed snow days are not used.