APS ditches snow days for remote learning days

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s largest school district is saying so long to snow days. APS announced this week that they will replace those days with what the district is calling asynchronous learning days.

Asynchronous learning days are basically remote learning days, which means teachers at APS schools are expected to send out lessons for students to work on from home.

Teachers may:

• Create and post assignments for students to complete on their own via Google Classroom or another platform
• Maintain office hours online to support students with assignments, or offer tutoring
• Use other instructional practices to ensure that students are learning

According to the district’s website, students who don’t have access to a digital device or the internet will be given additional time to complete assignments in class when they return.

All APS employees will be expected to report to work “as soon as safely possible.”

However, parents and teachers are unsure how this plan with pan out.

“What the teachers are saying is, wait a minute, I’m worried, how do I plan for something that may or may not happen, and I don’t know when it will happen?” said Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation.

Bernstein says this plan means teachers have to prepare two lesson plans – one if they are in school and another one for an asynchronous learning day.

Another concern is that not all students have laptops or tablets at home to do schoolwork on. KOB 4 asked APS if schools would be providing any to students. We did not get a response today.

So what happens to the two-hour weather delays under this new approach?

APS says delayed starts are still a possibility, and there’s no expectation that students hit the books while they wait for the snow to melt so their buses can pick them up.