Board View: A vision beyond “snow days”
Kentucky School Advocate
May 2016
By Madelynn Coldiron
Staff writer
Lawrence County school board member James See is happy to see that the use of non-traditional instruction days is working well across the state, as his district was one of a handful of systems that piloted the “snow day” alternative prior to 2014-15.
“This is something that is useful not just in Lawrence County but across the state,” he said. “Lawrence County started off as a guinea pig – we were picked to see how this might develop and if it was a tool that could be used in all of the state, because we have so many missed days.”
See said local response has been positive to the program, describing it as a “good learning experience” for both students and parents. The community initially didn’t know a lot about it, but is also learning, he said, and “they’re learning that it’s a good, valid method as an alternative.”
See also is encouraged because it fits with a long-held vision he has had for the district, which is increasingly combining online and classroom learning.
“I’ve had the idea for a long time that we should have notebooks or iPads or devices available to each child in high school, especially juniors and seniors so that we could further this technology program and build on that. And eventually I would like to see all of our high school students be able to enjoy the use of technology as a means of study,” said See, who also is a member of KSBA’s board of directors. “Textbooks cost an awful lot of money and a lot of the material they use now or have to research is online.”