The Michigan Department of Education requires that school districts provide at least 1,098 instructional hours to students in kindergarten through high school. Districts are permitted up to six forgiven school days each year for emergency closures. Usually, these closures are weather related such as snow, extreme cold, or storms that create widespread power outages.
Occasionally, a small number of schools, or maybe only one school, need to close for a building-specific issue while the rest of the district is open. Starting this year, when that occurs, those buildings will likely switch to a virtual school day where students receive online homework and teachers are available via Zoom. A virtual school day would keep that school or group of schools from exceeding the six forgiven days and needing to add in-person days at the end of the school year. In recent years, the state has become stricter about enforcing that every school must meet the required instructional time.
Virtual days are currently not planned to replace traditional snow days for the entire district. However, the district’s 2024-25 calendar does not have any extra instructional days beyond the required minimum. If the district is approaching its six forgiven days, administrators may opt to use Virtual Days rather than risk trying to add in-person days in June.
Virtual school days cannot be used as make-up days at the end of the school year. For the hours to count, any virtual days must occur during the regular year. Virtual days can be used in cases of emergency closures, student testing days, and professional development.
For more information, the district is posting the full details of the Partial School Closure Guidelines.