Ohio Schools Counting Hours, Not Days

Zanesville city schools called off their 5th day of school today, but the days no longer matter.

As of last year, there has been a change in Ohio law regarding snow days, Ohio schools must now count the number of hours missed instead of the number of days missed. This afternoon we spoke with the Coordinator of Operations of Zanesville City Schools, Kevin Appleman, who says students will now have assignments to complete at home in the event of another snow day.

“But what we’re doing, since this is our 5th day, our day six, seven, and eight, if we do miss those days, we’re gonna use what we have are blizzard bags. Those are our school assignments that the teachers have sent home with the kids and we will make that announcement if we do get to day six then we’re gonna do that blizzard bag, then day seven blizzard bag then day eight. If we get further than that, to day nine and ten, the possibility of us making up is, we probably will. But, we’ll have to wait and see with the weather gives us.”

There are many factors to consider when declaring school cancellations, but Appleman says safety is their main concern.

“The safety of our students and staff is number one. If we feel that that is not safe for them to even travel on a bus or walk, we are not going to have school. So we make sure that we keep everyone safe.”

You can find a Zanesville city school calendar on their website zanesville.k12.oh.us, which includes the days students would be required to make up in the event of too many school cancellations.