Column: This winter has complicated educators' and students' lives

During last week's big storm, all I could think was, "We were almost there."

Temperatures were mild, for the most part, in February. I think I remember (so much weather has happened between then and now) rolling down a car window as I drove home from work one day. The snow had melted. This was true even in our north-facing back dooryard. This area is bordered by our L-shaped house, the garage and a tall fence. It is the last place the snow melts; usually in April.

It was muddy enough in the backyard back then that my husband, Paul, had put down a few boards to walk over en route to the chicken coop.

We were lucky enough to escape the wrath of the first nor'easter, that rain event. Then, the next week, it snowed again. There was enough snow to close schools in the district where I am a librarian.  We were up to five snow days by then, but extending the school year by another day would interfere with graduation. With a one-day extension, seniors wouldn't attend enough days of school before the date set for graduation.

Stakeholders in the district were discussing the alternatives for making up the day, when we were hit by yet another storm last week. Two days out. Colleagues began joking that we were going to need to plan at-work Fourth of July celebrations.

It’s not easy to make up more than four or five snow days. None of the options are palatable, and some are impractical as well.

Parents often think we should put in a full day on an “early release” day. Those are half-days for students; teachers do professional development work in the afternoon. However, those already count as full days, since students are in class all morning and can eat lunch at school. It’s the same as if we were let out early due to a storm.

My district has a “compensation” day the Friday before April break. The compensation is for the time teachers spend doing parent-teacher conferences, which take place after school. Using this day as a make-up day could make sense, except that many in the school community (parents and staff) probably have airline tickets and vacation reservations for that day that they can’t cancel. If they bail out, that’s really not fair to those of us who are left behind, working.

One year, faced with this same dilemma, we went to school on a Saturday. This was miserable. I am so exhausted, mentally and physically, by the end of the work week that I need to nap on Saturdays just to pull myself together. A one-day weekend is simply not enough.

Another year, we spent five extra hours after school, one hour per week. I believe this was the month of April and it was every Tuesday. As the district’s library supervisor, I travel around to all the schools. I managed to schedule myself at the 7-12 school four of the weeks and so was able to leave at 3:30 p.m. But on the final week, I had to be at an elementary school. Working until 4 p.m. might not seem arduous—if you start at 9 a.m. When you are at your desk at 7 a.m., that makes for a long day.

It seems evident that we’re going have to do one of these things—use the comp day, go an extra hour one day a week for five weeks, or work on a Saturday—to give the seniors enough days to graduate. But now we have an additional two days to add on to the rest of the year. The way this winter is going, we may have even more.

When I was growing up in Massachusetts, the last day of school was often my birthday, June 21. This was because we never started school until after Labor Day. In my district, we have been at school since the last week in August. We are usually well done with the school year by my birthday.

As a kid, I never minded being in school on my birthday. If it was the last day, it was a half day. My parents would have presents and special treats ready for me in the afternoon. If I was having a birthday party, it would be on the weekend anyway.

Now, I’m pretty much responsible for any birthday fun I’m going to have. I do love it when I don’t have to work, so I can plan a day trip. I like to take advantage of the fact that my birthday is on the first day of summer.

Guess I’ll just have to be stoic about this. But I don’t have to be happy about it!

I don’t mind snow days. I’m grateful not to have to hit the road when it’s nasty out. But more than that, I enjoy these quiet days that expect very little from me. I usually welcome a March snow day, as it is a month without any holidays off

Still, enough is enough. The vernal equinox occurs this week. It is a sign of hope. It would be better, at this point, if it were a switch that turned off this crazy winter.