Are Kansas City area schools running out of snow days? See Missouri and Kansas laws
Kansas City area kids might be getting cabin fever after three days of closed schools or virtual learning. Severe winter weather left roads and sidewalks impassable for school buses and students.
On Wednesday, Jan. 8, classes were canceled in 22 Kansas City area school districts and charter schools, while 17 pivoted to virtual classes, according to Star reporting.
While there are state requirements on the number of instruction hours per year, each district or charter school can choose their own policy for snow days.
Parents and teachers might wonder if their school districts have used all their snow days, leading to classes extending into summer break. Families most likely won’t know until the spring, since factors like additional severe weather and education officials’ decisions can affect the end date.
In Kansas and Missouri, schools can make up instruction time in hours rather than days by tacking on 10 or 20 minutes to each school day to fulfill the state required time.
Missouri
School districts in Missouri currently must provide 1,044 hours of instruction, or approximately 166 days, per school year. Some districts build in snow days to their calendar, while others opt to use up to 36 virtual learning hours instead. The state caps the number of weather makeup days at 10, forgiving any above that cap.
Each district can build in a number of snow days to take throughout the year, giving a buffer for the school year to end according to the pre-set calendar.
Kansas City Public Schools built in two snow days and five virtual learning days.
In the North Kansas City School District, the first inclement weather day is a traditional snow day, the second through sixth are virtual learning days and then any after the seventh are snow days, which must be made up.
In Lee’s Summit School District, the first five inclement weather days are virtual learning. Additional inclement weather days are made up at the end of the year.
Starting in 2026, school districts holding classes five days a week will have to provide 169 school days, which could mean less flexibility on making up inclement weather days.
Kansas
In Kansas, school districts must provide 1,116 hours of instruction, or approximately 177 days, with a maximum of 40 virtual learning hours. The state caps the number of makeup days at five.
Each district can build in a number of snow days to take throughout the year, giving a buffer for the school year to end according to the pre-set calendar.
Olathe Public Schools has four built-in snow days for the school year.
Shawnee Mission School District has four built-in snow days for this school year.
Blue Valley Unified School District has five built-in emergency closure days for this school year.
Have more questions about schools in the Kansas City area? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
