Some area districts to ask for waiver for making up snow days

Some area school districts plan to apply to the state Department of Education for a waiver that would allow them to forgo making up days lost because of the recent snowstorm, while others say they will not.
Schools were closed for several days because of the snowstorm this month. As school boards meet in the weeks following the snowstorm, they are discussing what to do about the missed days. State law requires schools to be in session for 180 days by June 30 or lose state money.
District officials say they’ve been notified by the state that they can apply for a waiver if their schools were used as a warming shelter or if they were without power and would have been in session if electricity were available. However, they must also prove that they have made every effort to make up the missed days.
Canon-McMillan Superintendent Helen McCracken said she is applying for the waiver because several of the district’s elementary schools were without power and one was used as a warming station. She said district officials are collecting information and pictures to send to the state as part of the application.
She said students will go to school over spring break to show efforts to make up the days.
Burgettstown is not applying for the waiver, said Superintendent Deborah Jackson. The district didn’t lose power or use its schools as warming stations, she said. Changes to the calendar will be made at the March board meeting and then posted on the district Web site.
Washington has worked five of its seven missed days back into its schedule – Feb. 15, March 5, March 31, April 1 and May 28. However, the district hasn’t decided whether it will apply for a waiver, said school board President David Stotka. It’s waiting to see if the state will allow some days to automatically be waived, he said.
One issue that keeps coming up is whether graduation dates will change.
Trinity Acting Superintendent James Dick said he is working hard not to change the graduation date since many parents have already ordered announcements and made plans for graduation.
Trinity students will give up spring break on April 1 and April 5 and half of Good Friday on April 2, he said.
Good Friday will be an excused absence for those who want it off for religious reasons, he said.
“That’s how we can get our days in,” he said. “I don’t know how else to do that. If we get more snow days, we can petition the Department of Education to let us go for hours.”
Trinity’s graduation will still be June 4, and remaining students would attend school until June 7 or 8, Dick said.
Seniors can be tracked by hours attended instead of days, he said.
Avella decided to push its graduation date back from June 9 to June 16.
“I don’t want to move graduation one day six different times,” said Superintendent Wayde Killmeyer.
He had recommended adding days to the end of the school year and leaving days off for spring break. However, after discussion at a recent board meeting about the spring break days taking place right before Pennsylvania System of School Assessment testing, the board decided it wanted students in school on those days.
“I would prefer to move the days around so we have instructional time prior to the PSSA,” said board member Cyril Walther.
The board is waiting until March to approve an updated calendar in case there are more snow days over the next few weeks.

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Making up snow days?

Whether schools will have to make up the days missed because of this week's snow is yet to be determined.

Area schools have canceled classes since Monday, and some have canceled for the remainder of the week, because of the weather, which has caused power outages and dangerous road conditions.

The state school code requires that schools complete 180 days of school by June 30, Department of Education spokeswoman Leah Harris said Wednesday.

If schools cannot meet that requirement, they must file a mandate waiver with the department, she said. A decision about whether to waive the requirement is made on a case-by-case basis, Harris said.

"There is no guarantee that because of a snow emergency that it will be granted," she said.

If a district does not meet the 180-day requirement and does not get the waiver, money will be taken from the district's state subsidy, Harris said.

Many school districts are already having class on Presidents' Day to make up a snow day from earlier this winter.

Ringgold classes were canceled again Thursday and Friday is "50-50," said Superintendent Gary Hamilton.

He said there are many things to consider before deciding whether to change the calendar or apply for a waiver.

He said the district could lose state money and instructional time and could end up paying employees for days they didn't work if students are in school for fewer than 180 days. He doesn't know if Ringgold will apply for the waiver.

"I will have to talk to my board about it," he said.

Ringgold may end up adjusting the calendar because it has days off scheduled for spring break. Graduation is scheduled for early June, so days could also be added at the end of the year, he said.

"More thought has to be put into it," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the state Department of Education sent an e-mail to districts asking them to wait until the weather improves before deciding what avenue to take.