FAYETTEVILLE — Schools are scrambling to figure out how they’re going to make up days lost to recent snow and ice, and all the answers aren’t in yet.
Arkansas law requires schools have 178 days of class per year. Six hours counts as one day. Many districts build extra days into their academic calendars to offset days lost to weather, but recent snow storms caused those extra days and more to be used.
Most districts are now looking at finishing the school year near the end of the first full week in June, but it could be later if the area gets another round of bad weather.
Fayetteville administrators have asked the state for a waiver of the missed days, but they’ve also inquired about the possibility of keeping students an extra hour for 18 days, spokesman Alan Wilbourn said. That move would make up six school days.
“We don’t think it will be approved,” Wilburn said. “Traditionally, they’ve not approved that kind of thing and the rationale was you need to use spring break first, before you go to any of these other alternatives.”
District leaders do not consider a shorter or eliminated spring break an option for making up snow days, Wilburn said.
“Spring break has become such a part of the social fabric now that you really can’t do that. Too many families have made plans with non-refundable deposits, tickets, those type things. You just can’t go there,” Wilburn said. “You have to give them ample warning and there’s just no way to do that this year, so we wouldn’t even consider that.”
Spring break is the week of March 21. It coincides with spring break at the University of Arkansas.
Fayetteville missed 10 days to snow. Officials converted Feb. 21 to a school day to make up one, and students will also go to school April 29, which had been a scheduled day off. The district still has eight days to make up.
“That leaves Saturdays or adding extra days at the end of the year,” Wilburn said.
Smaller rural districts missed more days than Fayetteville.
“Right now, we’d be going to June 16, so we’re looking at some other options,” said Frank Holman, Lincoln superintendent.
Lincoln missed 12 days and the district plans to go to school on four Saturdays, starting this week, and had five days built into the calendar at the end of the school year. Monday is another makeup day as is another date scheduled for teacher development.
Holman said the four Saturdays are, in part, to create more instructional time to prepare for a required literacy test.
“If we miss any more days, before spring break, we’re going to take those off spring break,” Holman said. “If we miss any after, we’ll add additional Saturdays. That’s as of today.”
Without any further missed days, the end of school in Lincoln will be June 8.
Greenland school board members considered two options to make up snow days Thursday night, but didn’t come to any conclusion. Students in the district have missed 11 days because snow, said Superintendent Charles Cudney. There are six snow days built into the school’s calendar.
“Obviously, there are no good options at this point so we will be looking at an in-service day that we could use,” Cudney said. “We’ll be looking at Saturday make-up days.
Cudney said spring break days are available but officials would rather not use those days.
“I’ve worked with the (public policies committee) to come up with two options we can tweak and work on with people to vote for,” he said.
Farmington teachers and administrators were given a ballot with three options to make up nine days but all are similar, said Ron Wright, superintendent. A consensus is expected today.
“We’re making up two days in February, that’s pretty much already determined,” Wright said. That includes Washington’s Birthday on Monday.
“Then we’re looking at two Saturdays, two spring break days, requesting the Department of Education to attend on Memorial Day and two days at the end,” Wright said. “It could be two days at the beginning of spring break or two days at the end, that was one of the choices, and another didn’t take any spring break days and put a couple of more at the end.”
Prairie Grove teachers and administrators were vote Thursday on two options for making up days lost to the snow and ice.
“We have five and one-half days to make up that were not built into the calendar,” said Alan Williams, superintendent. “We had five days that were built in, that were already designated, so we’re using all of those.”
One proposal for making up the student days calls for simply adding those days on to the end of the year with the half day being the last day of the school year, Williams said.
“If we add them all on the end of the year, right now the last day for students would be June 9.”
The other proposal is to take three days away from spring break and add the remaining time on to the end of the year.
“If we did that, we would end school on Monday, June 6, with a half day,” Williams said.
The supported options will be presented to the school board Monday night, Wiliams said.
Megan Witonski, Elkins superintendent, said administrators and staff are developing a plan they can take to the school board Tuesday. Witonski said the proposal should be done sometime Monday, but did not know what options it will entail.