Snow Day Alternative Creates New Challenges

Thirteen school districts are part of an expanded program that allows students to complete assignments from home on snow days either on by downloading them on a computer or working from packets prepared ahead of time. In exchange, the state will forgive up to 10 makeup days.

Coping with fierce winter weather by teaching over the Internet has become more common in recent years, but it's harder in states like Kentucky, which ranks 46th out of 50 states for availability of high speed Internet. The problem is most pronounced in rural counties, which is why the state is moving forward with a $200 million plan to lay 3,000 miles of fiber-optic cables throughout the state.