School districts across New Jersey will have to decide if they will be issuing a snow day or learning remotely as a major snowstorm approaches the state.

For many districts, it will depend on how much snow falls in the town.

Madison could see up to a foot of snow, and the school superintendent has made the decision to close the school already.

"We are going to be off completely on Thursday, I’ve already made the decision that. On Friday, we’re going to go to fully remote,” says Superintendent Dr. Mark Schwarz.

Schwarz has students and staff in five schools. He says that because of the potential for power outages, remote learning could be difficult.

“It has the potential to disrupt learning, even at home, so we’ll use the snow day,” Schwarz says.

Mount Olive could see over 12 inches of snow Wednesday going into Thursday. Superintendent Robert Zywicki has decided that students will have school on Wednesday, but that if there is enough snow, schools will be closed on Thursday.

“These kids have been through a lot. They’ve spent a lot of time dealing with the pandemic, dealing with remote learning. I think we owe it to them to let them go do some sledding and get into snowball fights and things like that,” he says.

But geography will certainly play a role in other school officials’ decisions. Southern areas of New Jersey are only expected to see 3-6 inches of snow. Cherry Hill School Superintendent Joe Meloche says that schools will remain open.

“When we look at inclement weather and when we’ve had snow days, it’s always about safety and security – whether we can safely get kids to school…Now that everybody is safely in their homes, we can continue the instruction,” he says.

But Meloche says that he is sympathetic and that remote learning is on a half-day schedule, so the kids can still have the afternoon to go play in the snow.

Many school officials said that for the future, whether a snow day is issued while remote learning is in place will depend on how much snow is in the forecast.