With snowy weather pushing back the return to school in January and more weeks of winter ahead, many districts in Kentucky are in desperate need of more non-traditional instruction days.
The NTI Program became a virtual learning tool for teachers to conduct classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Districts are only allowed ten of these days per school year according to the Kentucky Department of Education.
Many districts have already used all ten this year and many more are nearing the limit. Greenup County School’s Director of Pupil Personnel Nathan Sutton said more days would be helpful.
“We are so early into the winter that we have roughly 50 some days left before its mid-March we are bound to have more bad weather. So, that would just be taking kids out of the classroom, but if we had a bad winter, they could continue to learn while they are at home with NTI instruction. So, it would be some relief,” said Sutton.
Even while he supports NTI days, Sutton said it’s hard for kids to be out of school for so long.
“When we start thinking about the student’s mental health - they’re isolated,” said Sutton. “Yeah, they can get on a Google classroom and chat with their teacher or they can correspond with their teacher, maybe through an email or small group chat sessions, but it still doesn’t replicate the in person, ‘Hey, I am in class with my friends and with my teachers.’”
Sutton added if lawmakers deny the request, schools will have to take snow days and possibly extend the school year into the summer. Kentucky Department of Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher has also advocated for more NTI days.