South Royalton — Schools across the Upper Valley are ending earlier this year because of the mild winter, and while education officials are grateful for the continuity of education, some say that the lack of snow days has exacerbated a problem that occurs every year.

Tara Tucker, the site director at South Royalton’s One Planet summer education enrichment program, said that this year, there is a bigger gap between the end of the school year and the start of the summer program. The gap has always been there, but in previous years, it was as little as four days. This year, parents in Royalton must find child care for their children from June 7 through June 27.

“Trying to find people that you can trust to watch your child, it’s a big issue really,” Tucker said. “A lot of parents are having to take time off from work, which I know puts a burden on families financially.”

Any form of childcare is difficult to find, Tucker said, especially for shorter periods of time. But more than that, One Planet is one of the only organizations in the area that can help provide state funding to parents who can’t afford child care in the first place.

Tunbridge Central School had only one snow day this year, compared with an average of four or five.

Parents will have a three-week gap to fill between the end of the after-school program and the start of its One Planet summer program on June 27. Normally, it is only a week or two, with school typically ending after June 10, instead of June 6.

This period of time can be a real challenge for parents, Tunbridge Site Director Phil Dimond said.

“Many of our working parents need that coverage. Absolutely. Positively. I don’t know what the alternatives are. I don’t know where you go. I don’t know what you do. Parents are sometimes left without options,” he said.

Despite all of struggles parents may face with the gap, both Dimond and Tucker said that they can’t ignore the other side of the argument, that the break from school is good for children, too.

“It’s difficult for parents to find care, and I get that,” Dimond said. “But I also think it’s healthy for the kids to have some time in a different environment, instead of being stuck in the same school that we’re already based out of.”

In other parts of the Upper Valley, recreation programs have stepped up to fill the void. Sherry Sousa, one of the administrators of Woodstock’s Summer SOAK academic enrichment program, said that because of the mild winter there is a longer gap this year before the beginning of the program, which also starts June 27. But outside sources have stepped in to provide child care and camps during the break. Many of these opportunities, including the recreation program, will also be providing financial assistance to parents in need.

Thetford resident Mike Wells, who has a daughter in the elementary school, said the gap isn’t affecting his family directly, but that’s because he works the night shift at Thetford Academy as a custodian. The fact that the job allows Wells to be available for his children during school hours actually factored heavily in his decision.

Wells said he and his wife are “extremely lucky” to be able to cover their child care but, “not everyone has the benefit of our current situation.”

The Norwich Recreation Department actually “banked on” an early end of school this year, Director Jill Kearney Niles said. Before it knew that Norwich students would get out a week early, the department scheduled a soccer camp starting June 20. Normally that would present the possibility for conflict with the school’s end of the year activities and cleanup. But this year, by chance, it worked out.

“I’ve been a teacher here for 30-odd years, and been the principal now for four,” Bill Hammond of Norwich’s Marion Cross School said, “but in all of my time here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a year without a single snow day.”

The recreation department “got lucky this year,” Niles said.

The last day of school in Lebanon is June 15, a week earlier than last year.