Virtual learning and at-home assignments may change the way kids see snow days in Connecticut.

Danbury-area students have spent nearly two weeks or more out of the classroom this year due to snow and storm school closures.

Ridgefield, for example, has requested a waiver from the state to end the year with 179 days — one day short of the required 180 — due to a record-breaking 14 school closures caused by three March snowstorms and the recent macroburst that left thousands without power for days. Other local districts have also requested state waivers.

But a proposal being considered by superintendents may help prevent a similar problem in the future.

Connecticut officials are exploring the possibility of joining several other states who use preplanned activities students can complete outside of the classroom — called “e-Days,” “blizzard bags” or “virtual days” — to recoup school time lost to severe weather.

Robert Miller, acting superintendent in Ridgefield, said even in years with half the number of closures, using virtual days are a viable alternative to adding more time to the end of the year.

“I think we all agree these days get quite hot, there’s a burden on energy in the building and students have other external commitments, so you don’t want to go to the end of June if you don’t have to,” Miller said. “If (e-Days) are a means to mitigate extending the school year further into June, it’s a worthwhile effort to try and get that accomplished.”

What those “e-Days” will look like for Connecticut is yet to be determined, though, Miller said.

At least two regional committees are looking into the idea, including the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents’ technology committee.

New Milford Superintendent Joshua Smith and Region 9 Superintendent Thomas McMorran, who serve on the committee, said the group is likely a few months away from nailing down a proposal to send to the state Board of Education, which will need to approve the idea.

The options in states that already use e-Days — like New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New Jersey — vary from holding virtual classes, sending home hard copy “blizzard bags” to complete on the snow day itself or completing online work during spring break.

Smith and Miller both said the e-Days in Connecticut will likely consist of a mix of both online and physical assignments. Miller said work could also include packets or projects that the student completes on a long-term basis, which can even include things like going to museums or other learning opportunities.

Strictly online work could make the days difficult when families lose power or have multiple children who need the computer, they said.

“Last week is a perfect example,” Smith said. “How many students didn’t have power or internet, or had parents trying to balance work in crisis? That real-time online work isn’t really applicable in situations like that.”

The amount of online work will also need to be age appropriate, Smith said.

Kearsarge, a district in New Hampshire that started using “blizzard bags” in 2009, uses different models for its elementary, middle and high schools.

Students at the elementary level receive a physical “blizzard bag” for each day that includes activities created by teachers in different subjects. Middle schoolers receive an online grade-specific assignment that either ties to or is an add-on to the curriculum. The high school students join in an online class based on their regularly-scheduled lesson plans.

Superintendent Winfried Feneberg said these models have been refined as the district figured out what worked best at each school.

“The first few years are probably going to be bumpy,” Feneberg said. “There are multiple ways of doing this and having done it repeatedly you get better after a while.”

Feneberg added that the district has also come up with a system of loaning devices so families do not encounter problems with getting online, though most in the district are well-connected. He added that storms with large power outages would not qualify as a “blizzard bag day.”

Another concern Connecticut officials brought up is how the e-Days will fit into personnel contracts. Feneberg said for most staff, “blizzard bag days” count as a full work day because teachers are required to be online and available during normal school hours.

The issue does get tricky for certain staff members, such as paraeducators, he said. McMorran added that this concern could extend to teachers with classes that don’t transfer as easily to an out-of-classroom setting.

“A high school English teacher could hold an online session with her students, but an elementary physical educator probably could not,” McMorran said. “Finding what constitutes an equitable work day will pose a challenge.”

Another benefit of using the e-Days, Feneberg said, has been that it avoids interrupting the flow of learning during the school year. He added that he does try to mix “blizzard bag days” with “good old fashioned snow days” when he can sense students tiring of the at-home work.

Danbury Superintendent Sal Pascarella said this benefit can also be true if e-Days are used for other purposes beyond making up snow days, like when students have extended leaves of absence. Danbury plans to participate in a regional discussion of e-Days as part of an effort to blend online and in-school learning, Pascarella said.

“There’s a number of circumstances where that can be beneficial,” he said. “For a student with a broken leg who can’t attend school, there’s a real potential to use technology in a really meaningful way for a short period of time.”

Both in these situations and to recoup snow days, officials agreed that e-Days should only be in conjunction with time in the classroom. They also said they are a tool for reducing snow days, not a means to replace them completely.

Districts in New Hampshire can use up to five “blizzard bag days” per year and schools in Rhode Island, which started allowing them this year, can use up to three.

“Nobody is under the premise that this is truly a replacement of all (in-school) learning, so I think that’s the kind of balance we want to find,” Smith said. “But, certainly in a year like this one, having one or two of these days would be a good option.”

aquinn@newstimes.com