Usually, the overpour of snow in the winter causes the roads to become slick and icy, the sidewalks to be covered in snow, schools to close, and people to stay home. Unfortunately, most but one part of this is true for Granite Schools District in Utah. School closures are sporadic for Granite School District and have hardly ever happened. When the requirements are met, the district instead makes it a distance learning day where students learn from home with their school-distributed devices. Nowadays, snow days without distance learning don’t exist thanks to new technology.

This prompts the question of why are distant learning days so rare in Utah. Well, there are requirements for these distance learning days, such as road conditions, bus transportation capability, and the status of the buildings. Although they do not close schools, the Granite School District states, “If you do not think it’s safe to send or take your kids to school during inclement weather, please keep them home.” So the district does recommend to keep your children home if you feel unsafe going to school, Ben Horsley, the communications and community outreach director for Granite School District says,  “We want our families to be able to make decisions in best interest in their families,”.

Granite School District usually keeps the schools open most days so the students have a warm and safe place to be, especially younger children with parents who go to work. They also provide students with breakfast, and many kids rely on that each morning so that they are not hungry throughout the day. For further information, the official Granite Schools website explains inclement weather conditions in more detail. They also explain why it is so rare for Utah schools to have snow days.