Snow days are eagerly anticipated by both students and staff alike. At the beginning of January 2025, MCPS had three snow days which is typically the total number of snow days during a full school year. As of the 2023-2024 school year, there were six different color codes representing different modified schedules for extreme weather. This school year, the amount of color codes got cut back to just five.
“We never had any code purple days last year but I’m glad that they are no longer an option,” WCHS junior Sara Farley said. “I think that snow days are a great surprise, and the whole point other than staying safe by not going to school is to be able to have fun and play in the snow with friends.”
The MCPS color codes included code green (normal operations), code yellow (two-hour delay), code orange (schools closed, offices telework), code red (schools and offices closed), code blue (early dismissal) and code purple (school and office telework).
“I think snow days are wonderful and remind students of their childhoods,” WCHS junior Sophia Campbell said. “They allow us to let out our inner child, go outside and enjoy the snow which we do not get [to do a lot]. Snow days also allow students and teachers to have time to decompress and have a nice unexpected break from the normal day-to-day stresses.”
The elimination of code purple has sparked controversy because the use of the video chat app Zoom has been proven effective over COVID, so many argue that it could still be effective for brief periods off of school. Previously, on code purple days students were expected to sign onto Zoom to get instructions from their teachers. This was slightly controversial because of the digital divide and varying levels of students’ access to technology across the county.
“I think that COVID can’t really be used as an argument for the use of code purple days because it was a unique situation,” Campbell said. “The question of school in relation to extreme weather conditions is a completely different experience than COVID so virtual learning was a fitting solution for the problem of being out of school for such a long period of time. A snowstorm or other weather conditions could inhibit online learning due to WIFI problems or power outages that could occur.”
Code purple days also were counted as school days, as opposed to code red days where if they reached the maximum number of days off of school, an additional day of school would be added to the end of the year. This is seen as a beneficial part of code purple because it has no effect on the number of school days and allows students to stay home.
“I am so glad that code purple is no longer an option because it is important for students to be able to get a break, go outside and enjoy the snow,” Campbell said. “Snow days were always a thing before COVID and there is no need for them to be abolished or change the policy just because of the use of technology during the pandemic.”
