Springfield Public Schools closed for Snow Day year’s last without homework for K-12

For Springfield families with children in the kindergarten through high school, Wednesday is the last school cancellation before the home work packages come out.

Freezing of rain and icy conditions caused the district to close schools Wednesday – for the third time this school year.

For students in K-12, the next cancellation, if it comes, will look different.

Students in the K-8 grades are expected to carry out home employment packages, while students in grade 9-12 receive specific assignments from teachers through an online portal.

Springfield is among the many Missouri districts that handle snow days differently this year after the Senate Bill 727, signed in the law last year, caused concerns. It puts districts at risk of reduced state financing if they have fallen below 169 days.

In early November, before any bad weather, Springfield district outlined the change.

The biggest difference: After a specific number of days the school is canceled due to bad weather, the district switches to alternative instructional method or AMI, which allows students to learn at home.

The change allows the district to count the day out of class as a learning day for participation.

For kindergarten, the change to AMI is canceled with the second day school.

Since this is the third day school that has been canceled this year, preschool students are the only ones expected to fill home appliances.

For students in kindergarten and grade 1-12, the AMI-Switch starts with the fourth day school is canceled.

The cancellations don’t have to be back-to-back.

Students in preschool, kindergarten and grades 1-8 received an AMI package in advance.

More: How SPS decides to cancel the school and when parents have to pull out home work packages

Parents who misplaced the AMI pack for their children can access the packages online at www.sps.org/ami.

When AMI kicks in, the students are expected to bring the finished AMI assignments to the school the next day class is in session.

The AMI days are handled differently in high school.

Students in Class 9-12 Log on canvas in the morning on each AMI day. This is where they find tasks from each teacher and other instructions.

How are the road conditions?

From 1 p.m. 10.30pm Missouri Department of Transportation’s Map still shows that highways running in and through Springfield are partially or fully covered. Traffic cameras in Springfield show a little more than slush on roads.

However, drivers still need to be careful while driving as falling temperatures can cause icy conditions. The National Weather Service Office in Springfield expects today’s high to be 32 degrees and a low level of 12 degrees overnight.

Under icy conditions, NWS offers these tips for safe driving:

• Run slower than usual;

• Leave more space between you and the surrounding vehicles;

• Do not use Cruise Control;

• Avoid braking quickly or make sharp turns;

• Keep your gas tank over half full;

• Keep an eye on the road conditions that can change quickly.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Public Schools closes for Snow Day. When AMI -Days kick in