What No Snow Days Means For St. Cloud Schools

The warmer than normal winter has led to little to no school late starts or closings.  St. Cloud School Superintendent Laurie Putnam joined me on WJON this week.  Putnam says the lack of snow days does not affect their school schedule.  She says they have flexible days that can be traditional snow days that don't include distance learning but those are only used when needed.  Putnam explains they have up to 4 days that can be used as traditional snow days that don't need to be made up.  She says this has been an unusual winter but she acknowledges we still have some possibilities for weather related adjustments in March and April.

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Some schools in the state have expressed concern about the length of time students have to eat lunch and/or breakfast.  Putnam says they've had little concern from parents or students in regards to that.  She says students are allotted 30 minutes to eat lunch.  Putnam says cellphones are not allowed for non-high school students within the district so students tend to eat lunch and socialize during their lunch time.  She says they always allow their students to complete their lunch without penalty.

Putnam says due to the amount of social media options for students their staff has a broad education on the dangers and challenges of social media for students.  She says staff engage in social media education research that indicates students who use social media on a regular basis become less engaged with other people and tend to be more depressed.  Putnam says their staff explains to students the dangers of a large digital footprint, protecting one's identity, and privacy and security.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Laurie Putnam it is available below.