As the requirements for school calendars and the impact of the pandemic have changed regular school attendance, the way in which students and teachers engage in learning has changed also.

A news release from Marshall Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Carol Maher says in past years, schools have been expected to build 36 hours into the school calendar for days missed due to weather. This year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) required districts to submit an “Alternative Methods of Instruction” (AMI) plan to provide districts a way to count attendance when remote learning is in place due to weather.

Dr. Maher says this was actually in place before the pandemic to address weather-related absences. To remain in compliance with the AMI plan, the MPS plan was updated on January 26 as:

Based on actual hours in MPS calendar revisions have had to be made as of January 26, MPS hours are:
Required DESE hours: 1,044;
Elementary hours: 1,063 (19 hours over 1,044);
Middle school hours: 1,053 (9 hours over 1,044);
High school hours: 1,069 (25 hours over 1,044); and
Seniors: 1,058 (14 hours over 1,044).

Dr. Maher says, as a result, the district only had BMS’s nine hours as overage, and now it has counted two traditional snow days. Using 6.7 hours (for the February 8 snow day) of the nine-hour overage, the district will not have to make up the first snow day. The second day (February 9) will be made up on May 26.

Because two days (February 8 and 9) were regular snow days, the district has tapped into the 36 DESE-approved AMI weather-related hours. In this approved plan, teachers and students are expected to be engaged in distance learning. As of Wednesday, February 16, MPS will have used 20.1 hours (three days) of DESE-approved weather-related AMI remote learning.