North Adams Schools to Go Remote on ‘Snow Days’

The switch to virtual learning means snow days may be a thing of the past for the North Adams Public Schools.

The arrival of snow over the Berkshires last weekend had the School Committee questioning how the school system would handle the coming winter. Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Roberts-Morandi said the schools would switch to remote learning.

"In the event of inclement weather that would force the closing of schools, we shift to a fully remote learning though, and students will have both their synchronous and asynchronous instruction following their usual schedule," she told the School Committee last week. "This has been agreed upon with the teachers union, and it came down through the commissioner's office earlier in October."

The schools have been using a hybrid education model because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Students have been split into cohorts and switching between attending in-person mornings and afternoons four days a week, with Wednesday remote for all to accommodate cleaning.

There have already been some power outages, which disrupt remote learning. If the outages are limited, the schools will have an idea what areas of the city have been affected.

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