Palmerton Area School District plans to apply for flexible instruction days to use over the course of the next three school years.

According to Jamie Schuler, Palmerton’s assistant to the superintendent, the district would receive five instructional days per school year to use if the application is approved.

“The flexible instruction days could be used for remote learning when in the past a district would have had a snow day,” Schuler said during a school board workshop earlier this month. “They could also be used for emergency situations should there be a power outage or something else that would close a school.”

A successful application would mean the district would have five days to use that would not need to be added to the end of the school calendar as was traditionally the case in past years.

As part of the application, the district has to submit examples of lesson plans it would use during the flexible instruction days.

It is the first time Palmerton has applied for the flexible instruction days.

“A handful of districts did apply for this in the past, but now, post-COVID, I think you will see a lot more going for this,” Schuler said. “We’ve lived through the remote learning now and the infrastructure is in place for this to work. The district wouldn’t be required to use all five days, but they would be there as an extra layer of protection should the need arise.”

Board President Kathy Fallow said having the flexible instruction days available allows the district to be more firm with its dates on the school calendar, in particular when graduation would take place.

Fellow school board director and former high school teacher Audrey Larvey also supported the application.

“As a former teacher, I know having snow days disrupts the flow of instruction,” she said. “The flexible instruction days provide a seamless and smooth continuation of academics. Technologically speaking, we’re primed to be able to do this now.”