As of the 2022-23 school year, District 99 will instate new procedures for student check in on emergency snow days.

On Aug. 15, the District 99 Board of Education unanimously voted to make these new changes. Students will now have to synchronously check in with all of their teachers at the time at which that class would normally begin. Any student not present at the virtual check in will be marked absent for that class.

“We feel that a synchronous check in at the start of each class period is a better model. Obviously, we learned a lot over the time that we were remote… and recognize that this is a much better way to run those remote days,” Superintendent Hank Thiele said.

The goal of these emergency days is to avoid adding extra days onto the end of the school year. There will be up to five emergency days allowed by state law per school year. An email was sent to students and parents on Aug. 10 with further details about the new plan.

Before this year, students were required to fill out one attendance form sent out by the school, and then they were able to do their classwork in any order they preferred at their own pace. Now, remote schoolwork will be structured more similarly to e-learning during the 2020-21 school year. Some students feel that these new procedures will add too much stress to the school day, including senior Arianna Deleon.

“That sounds like a nuisance to me, but I guess we’ll have to do it if it’s required,” Deleon said.

Math teacher Timm Linders believes that this new policy is a step in the right direction, and will increase the productivity of students and teachers.

“I had a feeling that when I was putting stuff up, a lot of people were just blowing it off, so being able to check in… and give them directions, I think that’s a good way to go. It makes everyone more accountable, both teachers and students,” Linders said.