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ST. LOUIS — And on the 19th day of winter break, everyone begged to go back to school.

“I am a snow day enthusiast but even I don’t know how many more forts I can build,â€� said Erin Lydon-Lorson, a counselor in the Meramec Valley School District whose 2-year-old son has been out of preschool all week. Lydon-Lorson and her wife, a counselor in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Schools, live in South City where the snowy side streets were still tough to navigate on Wednesday.

Nearly all public schools in the region called off since Monday, when students were supposed to return from the holiday break. The delay has given parents and teachers flashbacks to the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when schools closed for spring break and didn’t reopen for the rest of the year. Others recalled January 2014, when a large winter storm also caused a string of snow days.

Still, many wondered why schools still hadn’t reopened three days after the last snowfall.

There are many factors to weigh beyond the current weather. With temperatures still below freezing, snow remains piled up at corners where kids wait for their bus. Even if the roads around schools are clear, teachers and other staff might face a treacherous drive from wherever they live. Then there are the teenage drivers who might be experiencing their first trips on snow and ice.

By 4 a.m. on inclement weather days, around 50 area school leaders join a phone call to discuss the decision. Kevin Carl, superintendent of Hancock Place School District, has facilitated the calls for years.

“The idea is to get information, but everyone has to make their own unique decision,� Carl said.

Most school districts held traditional snow days on Monday and Tuesday, with virtual learning on Wednesday. But others had virtual school all three days or gave students the full three days off.

The variations are partly due to how individual districts form their calendars to meet state requirements, Carl said.

With the passage of the expansive education measure Senate Bill 727 last year, school districts that schedule at least 169 school days receive an additional 1% in state aid to discourage switching to a four-day week.

School districts generally build in three to five snow days to avoid makeup days at the end of the year. Missouri also allows an additional 36 hours of “alternative methods of instruction,� or virtual classes that don’t need to be made up in case of emergencies.

Hancock Place’s school year, for example, is 174 days. The district opted to give students a few days off this week instead of going virtual.

“Kids should be able to go out and sled and throw a snowball,� Carl said.

Several districts including Edwardsville, Ferguson-Florissant, Francis Howell, Ritenour and SLPS used at least two days of virtual learning this week.

Francis Howell’s school year would have extended into late May or early June if they took one or two traditional snow days. District officials updated the calendar late last year when they realized they were one day short of the new state requirement and would lose $422,000 meant for teachers’ salaries.

“I don’t want to be in class in June, so I appreciate being able to count these days, but I’d rather be in school in person,� said teacher Laura Trieschmann. “If I could wave a magic wand, we would have snow days built into the calendar so we could have traditional snow days.�

Francis Howell typically holds finals the week after winter break, but will now grade students on a “hold harmless� basis later this month, meaning the tests won’t factor into their overall grade unless it helps them.

Other teachers said they appreciate virtual days, which “allow me to still connect with my students while knowing they aren’t out on potentially dangerous streets,� said Carin Rook of Ritenour Middle School. “I am also grateful I am not driving on dangerous roads.�

And the virtual lessons aren’t always on screens.

At Edwardsville High School on Tuesday, art teacher Cassie Flynn assigned students to create snow sculptures (other than a snowman) at home. On Wednesday’s virtual day, students judged their classmates’ creativity, craftsmanship and technique and voted for the winner from entrants that included a hot dog, slice of pizza and a turtle.

Snow art was also the lesson plan in Jacob Lewis’ classes at McKinley Classical Leadership Academy in SLPS. First, the middle school art students studied the works of Andy Goldsworthy, a sculptor whose medium is the outdoors. Then they made art from the piles of snow in their own yards.

On the Illinois side, Mascoutah was one of the only school districts in the region to reopen Wednesday, with a relaxed tardy policy “so that nobody is feeling rushed.�

An “entire crew of helpers� joined the Mascoutah crossing guard known as Mr. James on Tuesday to shovel out the intersection of Sixth and Harnett streets leading to the middle and high schools, according to a .

As for Thursday, most Jefferson County school districts will stay closed. SLPS will log another virtual day. But all but one district in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County will reopen, said Carl of Hancock Place.

“That doesn’t mean that all of our side roads are going to be wonderfully cleared, but it means that we’ve made progress since the snow event began,� he said.

Thanks to the ongoing frigid temperatures, it’s likely there will be some lingering snow and ice when kids go back to school. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ police spokesman Mitch McCoy urged motorists to keep their eyes out for children.

“They will likely be avoiding snow-covered sidewalks, and they will be walking in the street,� McCoy said Wednesday at a weekly briefing. “Drivers, please be aware.�

Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.