Nearly 50 school districts are asking the state Board of Education for waivers on the number of snow days that their students must make up this spring.
The list of 47 districts is likely incomplete in the wake of this week’s round of winter weather that led to more canceled school days, said Kimberly Friedman, spokesman for the state Department of Education. Only districts that have missed more than 10 days of school because of inclement weather can apply for waivers.
On the list of districts seeking waivers are 17 that reported missing 15 or more days this school year.
Today is the 21st day that West Fork’s Superintendent John Karnes has canceled classes because of hazardous road conditions this school year. To make up for snow days, the school district already plans to cancel spring break and has pushed the last day of school to June 6.
“I’m ready for spring,” Karnes said Tuesday after deciding to cancel classes for the third day this week. “We’ve missed an equivalent of a month of school.”
Snow days have piled up because of four winter storms that hit between December and March.
The Education Department had set a Feb. 28 deadline for districts to submit requests for school-day waivers. On Tuesday, the department extended the deadline to Friday.
State accreditation standards require that students attend classes for 178 days each school year, but the state Board of Education has the authority to waive that number on a case-by-case basis.
The department encourages districts that exceed 10 snow days to make up as many of the missed days as possible. Districts are required to incorporate five snow days into their school calendars every school year. The department suggests that they use those five days as makeup days. It also suggests converting teacher training days and planned school holidays into instructional days, using all or part of spring break and adding days to the end of the school year.
Districts that plan to use Memorial Day as a makeup day must receive approval from the department, however.
The Viola School District, which at the time it filed its waiver request with the state had missed 19 days of school, asked to be forgiven for nine of those days, leaving 10 days for students to make up. Green Forest, with 17 missed days, requested to be excused for four snow days. The West Fork School District, which had missed 18 days as of Feb. 28, asked the state that it not have to make up more than those 18.
Omaha Superintendent Jerry Parrett anticipated closing school again today - the third day this week - because rural roads in the northern Boone County district remained covered with ice and snow. That will put the district at 20 snow days for the school year.
Parrett submitted a waiver request and had asked the state to pardon six snow days, he said. “If we do not receive a waiver, our last day of school would be June 12,” he said.
In central Arkansas, the weather has put a dent in school calendars, as well.
Pulaski County Special School District students have missed five days as of Tuesday. To compensate, students will attend school on Good Friday, according to a posting on the district’s Facebook page, and finish up the year June 5.
In North Little Rock, Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said the district has six extra days already built into its schedule for the end of the school year. The Little Rock School District also has extra days built in at the end of its school calendar.
“If we are out any more days, we would have to consider something else,” Rodgers said Tuesday.
Information for this article was contributed by Jeannie Roberts of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 03/05/2014