Why did some kids around Philly have snow days, while others logged on for lessons?

Across the region, schools were closed Friday. But whether you were free to go sledding or had to slog through a virtual math assignment depended on where you live.

The storm that landed in Philadelphia and the suburbs — blanketing the region with yet another snowfall this week — prompted different degrees of interruption in schooling. Some districts, like Philadelphia, called for a traditional snow day. Others instead opted for virtual instruction, a familiar model since the pandemic — requiring that students participate in lessons or complete work at home.

“These are all local decisions and are based on what makes the most sense for each community,” said David Christopher, superintendent of the West Chester Area School District, which had a snow day.

Here’s what districts considered when deciding whether or not to go virtual.

With snow days included in their calendars, some districts said they had decided that the first days they closed due to weather would be counted against that allotment.

In Lower Merion, for instance, Superintendent Steven Yanni notified families last month that the first two weather-related closings would be traditional snow days, while any additional closings would be virtual instruction days — requiring students to log on for a mix of live classes and independent work.

While the district called a snow day Friday, teachers were at home, developing plans for virtual instruction days “should those be required” going forward, said district spokesperson Amy Buckman.

West Chester, which has three snow or emergency closure days built into its calendar, had also previously communicated to families that its practice would be to use those days first — an approach district officials said they’ve taken for several years.

In Philadelphia, where the school district faced criticism for opening on a regular schedule when it snowed Tuesday, Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district decided to use its one built-in snow day Friday.

“As a father of three children, I understand the importance of children having fun and experiencing joy, which is one of our Accelerate Philly core values,” Watlington said in a message to the community. “As we know, it’s been more than 700 days since we experienced snow, and now we are getting hit twice in one week.”

In some cases, districts decided to wait to use their days for the prospect of a bigger snow.

Among them was the Colonial School District, where the superintendent expressed concern about using one of its snow days earlier this week.

Anticipating that “we may have to use another this winter for more significant and severe weather events,” Superintendent Michael Christian told families earlier this week to instead prepare for a flexible instructional day Friday, when another “nuisance” weather event was expected. (Colonial spokesperson Jessica Lester noted Friday that since Christian’s communication to families Wednesday, the storm had “clearly ... turned into a little more than” a nuisance.)

The North Penn School District, which had already planned a half-day for students and professional development for teachers, also called a flexible instructional day.

In the past, predictions of modest snowfall might not have closed schools, Superintendent Todd Bauer said during a school board meeting Thursday. But now that the district can offer virtual instruction, “it’s just not worth risking it.”

Still, he said he wanted to reserve full-fledged snow days for “a true” snow, not “rinky-dink snow days.”

Upper Darby also opted for virtual instruction — not wanting to skip another school day after a snow day earlier this week, and the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

“We want to give our kids the best opportunity educationally, is how we’re looking at it,” said Superintendent Dan McGarry. He added that the district already uses the platforms required to provide virtual instruction on a daily basis: “Why not put this technology to use?”

District officials were monitoring how Friday went, with teachers periodically checking in with students to ensure they could access their work. Each elementary principal had heard from parents who were struggling to get their children logged in Friday morning, but technology staff were able to help, said Greg Manfre, director of elementary education.

To be marked as present, students had to submit their work by 2 p.m. Friday; teachers were recording attendance by 3 p.m., data that Manfre said would be shared with the school board.

McGarry acknowledged mixed reactions to skipping snow days. “We remember what it was to be kids,” he said.

But he anticipates taking a similar approach in the future, given the district’s desire to keep school running.

“When and where we have opportunity to give people notice, we’ll probably lean in the direction of a virtual instruction day,” McGarry said.

The question of whether to have a snow day isn’t one school leaders have confronted much recently, noted Christopher, the West Chester superintendent.

“Moving forward, I’m sure we will have conversations with our communities about which model makes the most sense for our districts,” he said.