State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury has approved Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ Virtual Day Instruction Plan for inclement weather, setting the stage for the school system to potentially convert snow days and the like to virtual instruction days.
AACPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell emphasized at today’s meeting of the Board of Education that the implementation of the plan in no way means that every inclement weather day will become a virtual instructional day. Those decisions, Dr. Bedell told the Board, will occur on a case-by-case basis.
Under the plan approved by the AACPS Board of Education on September 21 and by Mr. Choudhury earlier this week, the school system can repurpose up to eight days for virtual instruction, with no more than three of those days using asynchronous instruction.
The Board-approved plan also calls for the school system to work with the Teacher’s Association of Anne Arundel County leadership to establish a date by which teachers will develop an asynchronous lesson to utilize if the occasion arises.
Among the other parts of the plan:
- At least four hours of instruction for synchronous virtual days.
- No more than three virtual days will be used in any single marking period.
- No student’s grade will be negatively impacted by a virtual day. Students must be provided with meaningful in-person opportunities for instruction.
- No employee’s pay will be negatively impacted by the use of a virtual instructional day.
Whenever the forecast makes it possible, the school system will announce the intention to utilize a virtual instructional day in advance.