Number of snow days in Nova Scotia schools amounts to a crisis: expert
Posted Mar 28, 2017 03:18:53 PM.
Last Updated Mar 29, 2017 07:06:50 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – An education expert says it is “bizarre” how often Nova Scotia schools are closed because of weather — and the number of days lost this year amounts to a crisis.
Paul Bennett, director of Schoolhouse Consulting in Halifax, said there has been an average of 12 lost days this school year in the province due to inclement weather.
Bennett compared that figure to places like Winnipeg, which in some years has not had a single snow day.
Many schools across Nova Scotia were closed today, raising eyebrows from some parents who felt the weather was not severe enough to cancel class.
The Halifax Regional School Board, which has closed its schools 9.5 days this year, says the decision to cancel classes is never made lightly and is done in consultation with many, including a meteorologist and a bus company.
Bennett says Nova Scotia should follow the lead of some school boards in snowy U.S. states, where lost days are turned into e-learning days, with students attending class online.