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BRIDGEPORT — Good news for Bridgeport’s sledders and snow angels: Regular snow days are here to stay.

Kids and their teachers should be able to catch a break when schools close due to inclement weather next school year. Missed instruction days will be made up at the end of the school year or during April vacation, as they were before remote learning became widespread amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The remote day is not going to be our go-to option,” said Superintendent Michael Testani. “I think it’s better that we stick to the clear lines that have been set forth for decades.”

Testani cited several reasons for the decision at a recent Board of Education meeting, including the district’s preference for inperson learning.

“I’m not a huge proponent of throwing more remote days at our kids,” said Testani. “This remote day was created for teaching and learning during the pandemic, not for convenience for folks.”

Once the pandemic ends, a lack of internet access could render distance learning impossible for some families.

Bridgeport currently provides free WiFi through Altice, but the contract will likely expire as more students return to school buildings. Presumably, internet hot spots won’t be extended either.

“The option of remote for all our students may not be on the table, simply because we’re in circumstances that our families and our children can’t control,” said Testani.

Before school systems distributed devices and WiFi last year for remote learning, an estimated 57,000 households with children in Connecticut lacked reliable internet access. The problem was most acute in the state’s poorest cities, including Bridgeport.

“Unless we can resolve all these issues and we can guarantee that 19,000 plus students can access reliable internet connectivity, the ’21-22 school year will consist of the old-fashioned snow day,” said Testani, “and we’ll make the days up as we have for centuries.”

The superintendent recognized that not everyone will be pleased with this decision, considering other towns’ plans to learn from home on snow days.

“I can’t worry about what happens in our surrounding districts,” Testani said. “They are not Bridgeport. They don’t have the same issues that we have here, the same challenges our families face.”

Having employees work on snow days also poses problems for non-certified staff, whose collective bargaining contracts are negotiated with the city (not the school board). These workers, who might belong to the same union as staff in other districts providing days off, could argue they’re not awarded the same privileges as their colleagues.

Teachers could use the free time, too. “Teachers themselves need a break on a snow day,” said Testani. “They’re going to have children at home they’re going to need to tend to. I don’t think they’re going to be able to provide 100 percent of their attention to our kids.”

Plus, Testani said it’s what the students want.

“I can’t imagine what a 6- and 7-year-old are thinking when they can just go outside and play in the snow, rather than be in front of their iPad or tablet,” he said. And it’s not just the younger students: “High school and middle school kids are on Twitter begging me to ‘just say the words we want to hear.’

“Many of our kids just enjoy an old-fashioned snow day,” he said.