With the coming of the winter season, a chance for snow on a school day can form.  Recently, Gainesville Highschool updated its management of harsh weather conditions. With the addition of the new code orange changes, are we able to look forward to a snow day? 

Prior to the creation of code orange, code reds would be called on days of harsh winter weather. When a code red is called, the school closes and work will not be assigned to students. These days would be planned around by teachers and met as a day off for both students and staff of the school. It also served as something to look forward to during the season. 

As of Winter 2021, Prince William County added a new code to the system of inclement weather procedure. Code orange was established for the days in which road conditions are unsure, on which staff and students are expected to work remotely. Teachers are meant to send material in an order similar to a student’s regular schedule of the school day. 

This year, the code orange procedure was updated and modified for our winter season. The recent modifications to code orange have required students to not only maintain school material, but to attend an ordered set of live virtual classes, expected to be nearly an hour each. Instruction would be started at 9am and go through 2pm, provided a one-hour break for lunch. A new schedule would be provided on the school website each day a code orange is called.    

With the new code established, can we really look forward to a snowy day to call off school? Realistically, no; a school day would be maintained online, taking the magic from a normal snow day. Code orange is likely to be implemented much more often than code red, which while kept, is saved for much harsher weather. Students planning to not attend classes on a code orange would likely be marked with an absence unless a certain reason was provided to the school.