MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools will continue virtual learning for all students unless there are widespread power outages as a result of the upcoming snowstorm, said the school district in a statement.
"Depending on the conditions of county roads, staff who work in buildings may be asked to work remotely that day," said the school district in an email. "We may also have to modify our meal service plans for the day but will communicate with our community once we have the details."
Areas north and west of D.C. such as northern Loudoun, northern Montgomery, Fairfax, Manassas, Frederick, could pick up 3 to 6 inches as these areas will also be favored for cold air, but could also get some mixing that would cut down on snow totals.
On Monday, Maryland State Education Association President Cheryl Bost urged school districts not to make quick changes rotating back and forth between in-person and virtual learning if snow impacts classes.
"We don’t want to just change on a dime. It really is a different style of teaching," she said. "That does take a different type of planning and instruction. We can’t just anticipate we’re all going to have our devices and we have our lesson plans already. That just won’t happen.”
Ahead of the expected winter weather on Wednesday, she said changes to learning during the pandemic made planning a bit easier for winter weather.
"Many of our school districts are virtual, currently. It really shouldn’t impact their day," she said. "It will be a regular school day in our virtual world.”
Moving forward, Bost believed her children would keep hoping for snow to impact school just like any other year.
"They’re going to disown me if I say eliminate a snow day," the mom said. "If it’s the good fluffy stuff, they have snowmen to build.”
Winter Storm Timeline Wednesday — Thursday:
7 a.m. — 9 a.m. Rain and snow slowly begin to fall across the region.
9 a.m. — 12 p.m. — More areas see rain and snow and some sleet mixing in.
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. — Rain picks up in D.C. and areas south, snow gets a little heavier in northern suburbs.
6 p.m. — 12 a.m. — Rain, snow continues with some sleet and freezing rain mixing in some areas. Most of the mixing will be along the rain/snow line.
12 a.m. — 5 a.m. Thursday — Areas that had rain begin to transition to snow. This will be the best opportunity for D.C. to see accumulating snow.
After 5 a.m. A few flurries and light snow showers and light rain linger until late morning. Precipitation begins to wind down.